


Strange Visitations

by AXEe



Series: Strange Tales from Another Planet [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Project Cadmus, United Nations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 10:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 45,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11251470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Myriad has been destroyed and Non arrested, but for Alex and Astra, the mission to protect the Earth is never over.  Not by a long shot.  Sequel to "Strange Visitor"





	1. Oversight

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Here's chapter one of the sequel to "Strange Visitor", "Strange Visitations". Hope everybody enjoys this and I also hope it won't turn out as long as "Strange Visitor" did :=)
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy :=)

******

**Six months later…**

The building that housed ‘National City Biotechnology Labs’ was one of several skyscrapers that dotted National City’s skyline, a tower of glass and steel indistinguishable from any other building in the city, It stood at the intersection of Grant Avenue and Flockhart Street, thousands of people passed it by every day without giving it a second glance.

Occasionally someone waiting to cross the street might, _might_ , happen to glance up at it and perhaps wonder what they did inside the building, but for the most part people ignored it, and the few who did wonder, merely thought that it was just one of the dozens of biotech companies that had popped up in recent years, nothing special.

Of course if the thousands of people who passed by the building everyday knew what really went on behind the mirrored glass they might think twice about crossing the street. In fact, they might even think about moving out of the city.

Perhaps even the state, just to be on the safe side.

Had anyone happened to look up on this particular morning, they might have seen—if the light was right—two streaks of color fly towards the building and land on an upper balcony.

But, of course, as we said earlier, no one gave the building a second glance

And that was just how the building’s employees liked it…

******

Kara straightened up with a frown, glancing at the shapeshiting Martian next to her in confusion

“Wait, where are we?” she asked

“The Department of Extranormal Operations” Susan Vasquez, otherwise know as J’onn J’onzz, answered as the wall in front of them became transparent and slid open, revealing a large, two-story command center

“Wait a minute,” Kara shook her head and waved her hands “you mean that _this_ has been here all this time? With, with the glass and, and the view?”

“The DEO has several facilities around the world, Kara,” Susan answered as she led Kara down the short flight of stairs into the room at large “this is only one of many”

“So, you and Astra knew about this place but you made me come to that cave everyday?” Kara asked

“We’re protecting the planet,” Susan pointed out “we can’t be picky about where we work”

“You know a bat bit me in the last time I was there”

“Whiner,” Susan snorted, pausing as an agent came up to her and began speaking to her in rapid fire French [yes, yes,] she nodded as she replied in kind [go talk to agent Schott about it] she encouraged

“Was that French?” Kara asked as the agent hurried off

“Yes”

“Why would he be speaking to you in French?”

“Maybe because he _is_ French?” Susan suggested sarcastically, she chuckled “we don’t answer to the United States government anymore,” she explained “at least not only them. Ever since Non and Ursa launched Myriad, the other nations of the world got nervous, especially since it was an American organization that shut it down, they felt that the U.S. government couldn’t be trusted to be the sole protector of this planet, the UN even threatened to level sanctions against the U.S. if we kept up our ‘cowboy tactics’ about alien attacks as they called it. Your aunt agreed, and managed to convince both the President and General Lane of this”

“So what happened?” Kara asked. In answer, Susan pointed off to a far corner

“See the flags?” she asked, Kara turned and saw at least seven flags hanging from the ceiling, the U.S. flag, the Canadian flag, the Mexican flag, the British flag, the Russian flag, the Chinese flag, and the French flag

“Yeah?” Kara asked, not getting what Susan was talking about

“Those flags, minus Canada and Mexico, are the flags of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council” Susan explained

“The United Nations?” Kara echoed, Susan nodded

“That’s right. See, Astra had a rather crafty idea, the UN wanted more accountably for the DEO, wanted to make sure we wouldn’t go rouge, so Astra came up with a compromise, a representative from each UN Security Council member-state would be assigned to the DEO as an agent, thus allowing the UN to participate in the defense of the planet without actually committing itself to possible war. In exchange, the UN would ease off on the threat of possible sanctions” she explained

“Wait, wait,” Kara shook her head “when did all this happen?”

“The changeover was finalized last month”

“So, so, who’s the Director now?” Kara asked

Susan smirked 

“Who else?” she chuckled, nodding to where Astra stood in the center of the room, seemingly directing everyone’s efforts “that was part of the deal, Astra would remain in charge”

“How she’d get them to agree to that?” Kara wondered

“Basically by reminding them that it was in their best interests to keep her on their side”

“She threatened them?”

“Negotiated” Susan corrected with a smirk…


	2. New Ventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Change comes to us all, we must simply go with the flow. AU of "The Adventures of Supergirl"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Chapter two of "Strange Visitations", what is "Season Two" of the "Strange Visitor"-verse, and, like with "What we are", you will NOT see the following: Mon-El, Mon-El, Kara and James breaking up, Cat leaving, and Maggie Sawyer (sorry Mags), but you WILL see: Lena Luthor, Cat Grant staying at CatCo, and of course, General Danvers.
> 
> Now, please enjoy :=)

******

“Anything?” Winn asked as he rooted around under the console

“Uh,” Alex looked up at the monitors “no…now, we’re getting another Bugs Bunny cartoon” she reported

“Ah,” Winn growled and pulled himself deeper into the guts of the console “OK, how ‘bout now?”

“Now it’s the Frasier-Ali fight” Lucy announced

“Mr. Schott,” Astra called out as she approached (a _thump_ and a muffled yelp from Winn heralded her arrival) “unless you have a more inventive way of monitoring alien activity on Earth I would like my satellite network back on-line _yesterday_ ”

“It’s not my fault,” Winn objected as he crawled out from under the console “those fact-checkers from the UN took everything apart,” he explained “it took me _two days_ just to put everything back together again!” he exclaimed

“Winn,” Lucy sighed “just…try, please?”

“Do…or do not,” he grinned, doing a passable Yoda impression “there is no try”

“Exactly how badly do you want this job, Mr. Schott?” Astra asked

“Right!” he promptly disappeared back under the console again

“Everything OK?” Kara asked as she came over, the monitors chirped and cleared instantly, satellite imagery scrolling past

“Ha!” Winn declared as he crawled out from under the console and stood up “who’s the da man?” he grinned

“Not you, that’s for sure” Lucy snorted, while Astra actually snickered

“Hey!” Alex rushed forward and pulled Kara into a hug “why didn’t you tell me that you were back?” she asked

“Oh,” Kara waved a hand “it’s not like I needed you to pick me up from the airport,” she dismissed “I _can_ fly, you know”

“So, how was Hawaii?” Alex asked “did you and James enjoy your first trip away together?”

“Oh god!” Kara grinned “ _so_ gorgeous! Our hotel gave us like these, these…fruity, rum…punch drinks when we got there. I mean, it didn’t do anything for me, but…wow!”

“Oh, I want to go to Hawaii,” Lucy sighed, she nudged Winn playfully “how come you never take me places?” she teased

“Children,” Astra coughed “as much as I’d like to see my niece’s vacation slideshow, perhaps we could do it some other time? Like after the planet’s first sub-orbital passenger transport is launched?”

“Oh yeah, the _Venture’s_ launching today,” Kara grinned “I wanted to see that,” she frowned “but, wait…why is the DEO taking an interest?” she wondered

“There are some species out there who see any other space-faring race that they encounter to be a threat to their own existence,” Astra explained “and Earth launching its first passenger spacecraft might just count”

“Not like any of us could afford a seat on it,” Winn muttered “I read like only super-ultra-multibillionaires got tickets” he pouted

“Feeling left out, Winn?” Astra chuckled “allow me to put your mind at ease; you’re about twenty times _safer_ here on the ground then you are out there” she explained as Susan pulled the news coverage of the launch up on the screens

“ _…the Venture was built by a joint consortium between Wayne Enterprises, S.T.A.R. Labs, and LuthorCorp,_ ” the news report picked up as images of the launch pad in Florida were splashed on the screen, a counter displaying only five minutes to launch “ _if successful, it could pave the way for future space exploration and, possibly, interplanetary colonization of Mars and other Earth-like planets_ ” the reporter boosted

“Only if you all stop killing each other first” Astra snorted…

******

At exactly fifteen minutes to two PM, the _Venture_ blasted off from the pad, carrying its crew of four and the one hundred or so passengers. By 2:25 it had reached low earth orbit, by 2:30, it had reached its apogee and began its descent for reentry.

At exactly 2:35 the portside engines exploded…

******

“Engine failure?” Astra asked “are you sure?”

“Report came in live from Huston,” Susan nodded “the ship’s port-side engine just exploded, they’re in a steep descent, coming in way too fast” she explained as she turned back to the screens

“ _We’re unsure what exactly has happened at this moment,_ ” the reporter was saying as the ‘BREAKING NEWS’ banner scrolled along the bottom of the screen“ _but we can only hope that Supergirl is watching this_ ”

“She is” Alex chuckled as Kara grinned and took off….

******

Meanwhile, at that exact same moment, Clark Kent of the _Daily Planet_ was watching a similar report. Nodding to himself, he abandoned his morning coffee run and ducked into a side alley, shedding his clothes to reveal a familiar crest.

Leaping up into the air, he took off with a bang…

******

Meanwhile, onboard the _Venture_ itself the crew of four struggled to control the rapidly-falling craft. Its pilot, veteran NASA astronaut Cassandra Lewis—and lifelong resident of National City, California--had landed the Space Shuttle in less than favorable conditions before, but nothing like this. Struggling to hold the _Venture_ steady was a task in and of itself, much less trying to keep the ship from spinning out of control, and Cassandra was not above admitting that, right now, she was terrified out of her wits

“We got something on radar!” her co-pilot announced just as a streak of red and blue suddenly shot across the cockpit widows, stopping in front of the ship itself and floating there “what the hell is that?” the co-pilot demanded

“ _Supergirl…_ ” Cassandra whispered…

******

Outside the _Venture_ , Kara dug her fingers into the nose of the ship, admittedly not quite sure how to land the ship from the outside. This wasn’t exactly like when she’d saved Alex’s plane last year

“Need a hand?” a familiar voice asked. Turning, Kara grinned

“Hey cuz!” she grinned as Superman glided up next her. He smiled in response and nodded towards the ship

“This looks like a job for the both us,” he declared “I’ll put out the fire, you guide them in” he instructed

“Got it!” Kara grinned as he took off, reaching the rear of the ship in seconds and extinguishing the flames with a burst of freeze breath. Giving Kara a thumbs up, he gripped the tail of the ship and simply began to push down. While, at the nose, Kara tried to lift the nose up, both of them trying to level the ship out

But it wasn’t working, the ground was still coming in fast, way too fast for Kara’s liking “Alex?!” she called into her comm. “I could use some help out here!”

“Help’s on the way, Kara,” Alex answered as Susan and Astra both marched towards the balcony, J’onn shedding his human form as the entrance slid open “be careful!” Alex called out after them. Astra turned, smirking

“Always” she grinned. With that she turned back and took off after J’onn…

******

Streaking across the sky, Astra and J’onn quickly reached where the Venture was still rapidly falling

“Let’s give them a hand” Astra declared

“ _ **Right**_ ” J’onn nodded as they both flew under the ship and began to push up on its belly, the heat-resistant tiles cracking and splintering under their grips. But with the added help, the _Venture_ finally began to level off. Astra and J’onn broke away as the ship slammed into the ground in a hard, but ultimately safe, belly-landing, gouging the earth as it slid across an empty field before finally coming to a stop. Kara and Superman broke away too, joining Astra and J’onn as they landed in a nearby clearing

“That was amazing!” Kara gushed

“I’m glad someone thinks so” J’onn panted out as he shifted back into Susan Vasquez

“Oh! I’ve dreamed of this moment, you know?” Kara continued “the four of us, teaming up”

“Sounds fun” Superman nodded with a chuckle

“Aunt Astra, did you know that I used to change his diapers?” Kara grinned, pointing at Superman

“Yeah, I don’t think she needs to know that” he whispered, blushing

“I think she kinda does” Kara grinned

“I think she does too” Astra smirked…


	3. Ghost Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Chapter three of "Strange Visitations", enjoy! :=)

******

Alex paused as she came to the shut doors of the hologram room, the sound of someone speaking from the other side reaching her ears. She looked down at the report in her hands, wondering if it could wait, but, no, Astra always wanted an update as soon as they got one. Sighing, Alex reached out and lightly knocked on the metal, the doors silently sliding open as soon as she put her hand down, Astra having most likely seen her _through_ the doors—x-ray vision and all.

Cautiously stepping inside, Alex frowned. The room was different then the hologram room had been at their old base back in the desert, it was longer, and narrow windows on the left wall let in some natural light. The pedestal where the hologram of Alura stood remained the same.

Since Astra had been reinstated as Director of the DEO after exposing herself not only as an alien but as Kara’s aunt, she asked that they remove the filter on the hologram, the one that it made look like an older version of Kara instead of Astra’s twin sister, so now whenever the program was turned on it looked like Alura no matter who turned it on.

Astra herself sat against the wall by the doors, one knee drawn up, her other leg stretched out, as she balanced a mug of tea—Alex could see the tag from the teabag and smell the rich, earthy scent of Astra’s favorite brand of black tea—on her knee

“I helped to save about one hundred people today” she continued

“ _I am pleased for you, my sister_ ” the hologram responded blandly. The voice was pleasant, life-like aside from the slight echo, but it wasn’t an actual response, just a generic platitude, the program didn’t have the intelligence to hold an actual conversation, to understand how or why Astra was still alive, or why she was no longer a prisoner in Fort Rozz. To it, Astra was merely just someone who wanted information that it possessed

“I come here every so often,” Astra spoke up, startling Alex “just so that I can see her,” she chuckled “I know its not really her, but sometimes, if I close my eyes, I can imagine that is, that’s she lecturing me on the finer points of philosophy, like she used to when were children,” she sighed “was there something you wanted?” she asked, finally looking up at Alex

“Yeah, we got the report back on the _Venture_ ,” Alex answered, unable to take her eyes off the hologram “I wonder about her sometimes” she mused

“You wonder what?”

“Just…,” Alex sighed as she lowered herself to the floor, matching Astra’s pose “just what she’d think of all of this, of what Kara’s done with her life, what you’ve done your life, what she might think about me, about us” she explained

“That’s pretty deep thinking,” Astra murmured as she steeped her tea, idly taking a sip, the earthy scent filling Alex’s nostrils as she set the mug down on the floor “but, I can’t say that I haven’t thought the same things myself” she admitted

“Yeah,” Alex agreed “after all, you are General Astra In-Ze” she chuckled

“ _General Astra In-Ze,_ ” the hologram spoke “ _sister of Alura Zor-El and wife of Non-Ur, she was the youngest person ever to achieve the rank of general in the Military Guild. Her commendations include: the Medal of Valor, Medal of Rao’s Light, and the Sword of Rao with honors. However she was later stripped of her rank when she conspired to overthrow the High Council with the creation of the weapon known only as ‘Myriad’--_ ”

“End program” Astra snapped, the hologram stopped mid-sentence and vanished

“Sorry” Alex mumbled

“It’s all right,” Astra dismissed “I’m used to it,” she added, even though Alex could see the anguish there in her eyes, could see how hurt she was that her legacy that been reduced down to words like ‘terrorist’ and ‘traitor’ “so, this report of yours?” she asked, breaking Alex out of her thoughts

“Oh, right, uh, Winn analyzed the reports from NASA, the FAA, and the NTSB, and it looks like the explosion on the _Venture_ was deliberate”

“Sabotage?” Astra asked

“Looks like it,” Alex sighed “and, according to the passenger manifest, one passenger didn’t show up for the launch: Lena Luthor”

“Hmm,” Astra mused “Lex Luthor’s sister,” she frowned “I think it’s time that we pay Ms. Luthor a visit”

“The FBI already visited her,” Alex pointed out as they left the hologram room “who are we going to say we’re from?” she asked

Astra smirked and pulled out her ID, the DEO ID shimmering to be replaced by a press pass for _Interstellar News Magazine_ , a fictitious online newsmagazine devoted to news about space exploration, a perfect cover for the DEO

“What do you say, Alex?” Astra asked with a chuckle “care to do some investigative reporting?”

“Love to” Alex grinned

"Good," Astra nodded "bring Kara" she added...


	4. Name Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Astra meet Lena Luthor, Kara has a date night planned, and Superman has a concern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Chapter FOUR of "Strange Visitations"! Enjoy! :=)

******

Lena Luthor’s office was smaller than Cat Grant’s, but had that same modern touch, everything was white, and there didn’t appear to be a straight line in the place. Despite the rather sterile decor, the room had a strange, comforting, warmth to it, Alex noted, one that she’d never had expected to come from a Luthor

“Your company helped to the build the _Venture_ , correct?” Astra asked, and Alex was still surprised at the transformation Astra had achieved with just a change of clothes and adding a slight lean to her stance. Swapping out the DEO-issue combat boots for a pair of a tattered sneakers and an equally tattered-looking pair of jeans, along with a faded t-shirt. Tying her hair back in a messy knot and adding a pair of slightly oversized glasses completed the illusion. Gone was ‘Director Astra In-Ze of the DEO’, in her place stood the slightly-frazzled-looking ‘Astrid Starr’ of _‘Interstellar News Magazine’_.

“Why don’t you simply ask me what you want to ask me, Ms. Starr, was it?” Lean Luthor challenged “you want to know if I sabotaged the _Venture_ ”

“Did you?” Astra asked point-blank

“No,” Lena reached over and picked up a remote, aiming it at a screen mounted on the wall “since I’ve taken over LuthorCorp, I’ve been trying to remake it, turn it into a force for good,” she explained “that’s part of the reason why I moved our corporate headquarters here to National City. In a few days, I’ll hosting a press conference, where I’ll announce my rebranding of the company to ‘L-Corp’,” she turned back to the trio “in short, ladies, I have nothing to hide”

“We never said that you did” Alex pointed out

“You wouldn’t be asking me these questions if my last name was ‘Smith’, now would you?” Lena challenged

“With all due respect, but the Luthor family isn’t exactly know for its honesty” Astra pointed out

“Except I’m not a Luthor,” Lena countered “I’m adopted,” she explained “Lex was, ironically, the only person who made me feel welcome,” she sighed “when I heard about his crusade against Superman, about all the people he’d hurt, it broke my heart”

“I’m sorry” Kara said

“Thank you,” Lena nodded, she frowned “I’m sorry, who did you say that reported for, Ms. Danvers?”

“I’m not, I mean, I didn’t,” Kara turned about twenty different shades red “I’m sort of…helping out today, I work for _CatCo Magazine_ ”

“Hmm, now there’s an institution that’s not exactly know for hard-hitting journalism,” Lena noted, but there was no malice in her voice, just a statement of fact as she nodded towards Alex “and you said that your name was Danvers as well?”

“That’s right” Alex nodded

“Sisters?” Lena asked

“That’s right” Alex nodded again, Lena smirked, looking pleased at having guessed right

“But you work for different media outlets,” Lena commented “sounds risky”

“Oh, they make it work out” Astra chuckled, as Lena stood up and walked over to small safe sitting on a shelf. Unlocking it, she pulled out a flash drive and held it out

“This is all the information my company has collected on the _Venture_ , both its original blueprints, and our own investigation into the explosion,” she explained “take it,” she encouraged “look it over, you’ll see that I have nothing to hide”

******

“I didn’t see anything, you know…suspicious when I x-rayed the room” Kara commented as they left the LuthorCorp building and headed back to the car

“No, neither did I” Astra confirmed

“Can’t believe I’m going to say this,” Alex as they climbed into the car “but, I think she’s telling the truth” she sighed

“I think you’re right” Astra agreed as Kara’s cell phone rang

“Hello?” she grinned as she answered it “hi!” she chirped “yeah, I’m out with Alex and Astra….yes,” she rolled her eyes “I’m being careful, you worrier…uh-huh, oh cool! Sounds fun…at eight? Got it! Love you, bye!” she hung up and blushed as she saw that her sister and her aunt were staring at her, smirking

“Either that was Mr. Olsen, or he should be very worried” Astra drawled

“No,” Kara laughed “it was James, he got us a reservation at this really fancy restaurant over on Pike, and supposedly their lobster is to _die for_ ”

“I’m think I’m going to be sick” Astra grumbled as she started the engine…

******

Back at the DEO, Alex was surprised to find that the lights were out, fortunately the windows let in enough sunlight that it didn’t hamper anybody’s work

“Mr. Schott!” Astra bellowed as she marched into the darkness “ _why_ are the lights out?”

“I don’t know!” Winn called back from somewhere in the dark. There was a distant thump and then the lights suddenly flickered back on "all good!" Winn called back

“Huh, look at that,” Kara grinned “Aunt Astra walks in and everything starts running like clockwork”

“Just don’t flush any of the toilets on the third floor yet,” Lucy spoke up as she approached “you clock isn’t waterproof yet” she explained

“Why are you guys having so much trouble today?” Kara wondered

“It’s the new UN policies,” Alex explained “we have to basically rebuild everything to conform to international standards, the power meters now have to be compatible with both DC and AC, the signs all have to read in all seven official UN languages, not to mention that they now have to use the metric system”

“And, at add insult to injury,” Lucy sighed “the UN wants it all done _yesterday_ ”

“Wow, sucks to be you guys” Kara sighed

“Kara,” they looked up as Superman came over “glad to see you’re back,” he smiled “I wanted to talk to you about one of the prisoners”

“Oh? Which one?”

“Non,” Superman sighed “I just found out that you’re using kryptonite on him?”

“It’s just a precaution, Superman” Astra explained as she came over

“But if he surrendered then why are you still treating him like a criminal?” Superman countered

“The last time Non ‘surrendered’, six soldiers died,” Astra began “not to mention the fact that Ursa and her goons used his capture as a diversion to not only raid Lord Technologies but to capture me and hold me hostage. Now, you may disagree with my methods all you want, but, until I see Non do something along the lines of saving a litter of puppies from a burning building, I am still going to classify him as a potential threat”

Alex watched as Superman clenched his jaw but said nothing as he turned and walked away, Kara hurrying to follow, while Lucy was called over by another agent. Now alone with Astra, Alex cautiously approached the other woman

“Look,” she began “I agree that Non is probably still a threat, but…,” she nodded to where Superman and Kara were deep in conversation “don’t you think that you and Superman should have a talk?”

“Why?” Astra wondered

“Well, it just seems like…,” Alex sighed as she looked over to see the back of Astra’s head disappear around a corner “that this conversation is over...”


	5. Target

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Astra have a talk about Superman, then they find out who the real victim was

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're baaaack! Yes, "Strange Visitations" is finally being updated! Enjoy and let me know what you think! :=)

******

Knocking on Astra’s office door, Alex cautiously peered around the corner. The office was larger than Astra’s pervious office had been back at their base in the desert, although technically, this was her old office, as this had been the DEO’s original base of operations, the desert base had only been used as their prisoner complement grew, with more and more Fort Rozz escapees coming out of the woodwork.

Currently the office overlooked the main work area, with the entire right wall-from Alex’s perspective standing in the door—made of floor to ceiling glass. A desk sat in the center of the room, with two chairs in front of it, while a single bookshelf sat against the wall directly behind the desk. The office, like back at the desert base, was Spartan, there were no personal items of any kind, aside from the fact that Astra was currently sitting at the desk typing away on her laptop, one would never have known that the office was ever actually used.

“Was there something you wanted?” Astra asked without bothering to look up as Alex continued to linger in the doorway. Stepping into the room proper and shutting the door behind her, Alex suddenly felt her mind go blank and struggled to remember what she had been going to say, finally settling on

“Is that the same chair that you had before?”

Astra finally looked up from the computer screen “I like this chair,” she said “now, unless you have something to tell me, I need to finish this report on the _Venture_ explosion to our new taskmasters at the UN”

“Just…,” Alex sighed and sank down into one of the chairs in front of the desk “can you do me a favor?” she asked

“Depends on the favor”

“Can you just… _try_ to be nice to Clark while he’s here? Please? For Kara’s sake at least?”

Astra slowly stopped typing “Do you know how long Kara was with him from when he dug her pod out of the ground to the time he left her with your family?” she asked

“No”

“Three hours,” Astra stood up and moved to stand by the window overlooking the main work area “three hours,” she repeated “he couldn’t be bothered to _try_ and care for her, no, he just foisted her off a group of stranger and _hoped_ that they knew what to do”

“Gee, thanks” Alex muttered sarcastically. Astra sighed

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she apologized softly “it…just…he could have _tried_ damn it!”

Alex slowly stood up and approached the other woman “You know,” she began “you’re not exactly innocent in this either, you knew where she was, you could’ve been there for her, not take her away, but just…be there for her. It was hard for her during the early days, you know? She thought she’d lost _everything_ , her home, her _planet_ , her family. Did you know that for the first three months she was with us she almost always cried herself to sleep every night?”

“ _No_ ,” Astra whispered hoarsely “I didn’t,” she sighed and leaned as Alex wrapped an arm around her waist “I fucked up. Again. As usual”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Alex shrugged “but, the point is, she’s here _now_ and she wants you like be nice to her baby cousin. So, please, for me? Try?”

Astra was silent for a long moment “I’ll try,” she finally said “not for him, not even for Kara, but for you. Is that enough?”

“More than enough” Alex chuckled, pulling away from Astra at a knock at the door

“Oh,” Winn froze as he stopped just inside the door. He stared at how close the two women were standing to each other “uh…I can come back later, if, if, you two, you know, want some, some…alone time"

Both women snorted

“We, unlike you and Agent Lane, don’t have sex in the workplace, Mr. Schott,” Astra chuckled “now, then, was there something you wanted?”

Winn, now blushing about twenty shades of red, held out his tablet PC “Found out something kinda creepy about the explosion on the _Venture_ ” he explained

“How so?” Alex asked/p>

“OK, so, the bomb was placed under seat 30-C, right?” Winn began, at their nods he continued “but, nobody was sitting in that seat. In fact, the person who was _supposed_ to be in seat 30-C never showed...Lena Luthor”

Alex and Astra stared at each

“Lena Luthor wasn’t the _bomber_ " Alex realized "she’s the _target_!”

“Where’s Ms. Luthor now?” Astra demanded

“Just about to leave for a conference across town,” Winn answered “by helicopter” he added

“Call Kara and her cousin,” Astra barked out as she marched out of the office, Winn and Alex hot on her heels as she entered the main floor “Vasquez! Get me a satellite feed over the LuthroCorp building now!” she ordered “if a fly so much as sneezes anywhere on that block, I want to know about it”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Kara and Superman are on the way” Alex reported…

******

“Looks like smooth flying today, Ms. Luthor” the pilot commented as Lena Luthor climbed inside the helicopter, the rotors whirling to life above them

“Spare me,” she grumbled as she slipped on the headset “I hate flying, even though, statistically speaking, it is the safest way to fly,” she spat as the chopper lifted off. Looking out at the descending cityscape, Lean happened to look to her right, past the pilot’s body, frowning at small black shape now rapidly approaching the chopper “what the hell?” it was a drone of some sort, not practically big, but it looked…ominous

As Lena watched, two small tubes slid out from underneath the drone’s body. Gun barrels, she realized as the two flashed once. There was a sudden gust of wind that made the chopper jerk and suddenly Supergirl and Superman were now floating in front of the chopper, the bullets harmlessly bouncing off the two aliens.

Kara felt herself grin at Clark as the drone stopped firing

“ _I was wondering when the two of you would show up_ ” a man’s voice commented from the drone

“You know,” Clark began “if you were expecting us, you should have brought something a little more powerful”

“ _Oh, but I have,_ ” the voice taunted “ _I’ve brought my wits. You see, I have dozens of drones like this all over the city. So, you can either save the lovely Ms. Luthor or hundreds of innocent people. Your choice_ …aliens”

Clark looked over at Kara

“I’ll take the drones, you take the chopper” he instructed

“Got it” Kara nodded as he took off…

******

“We’re tracking multiple bogeys all over the city” Susan reported

“Which one is Superman nearest to?” Astra asked

“Channing Street”

“Right,” Astra tapped her comm. “Superman, Channing Street” she instructed

“ _On it_ ” he replied

“How’s Kara doing with the helicopter?” Alex asked

“I…don’t think you want to know that answer to that one, ma’am” Susan answered as on the screen, the tail rotor of the chopper suddenly exploded and the craft began to violently spin out of control…

******

Kara sat up with a wince, blinking as she shook off the dizziness from that last missile. Looking up, she watched in horror as the helicopter violently spun out of control. Taking a breath, she stood up, focusing on the drone, she fired off a blast of heat vision, the drone wobbled before suddenly exploding. Cringing at the fireball, Kara shot up, gripping the helicopter by the skids and, with some effort, managed to hold it down long enough for the pilot to shut the engine down

Opening the door, Kara leaned in, the pilot looked notably pale and was shaking “Are you all right?” she asked as she noticed that Lena Luthor, by contrast, looked slightly more composed than the pilot

“I’ve been worse” Lena answered…


	6. Nevermore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, thing we hate the most is ourselves...end of AU of "The Adventures of Supergirl"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Enjoy! :=)

******

“Yeah,” Winn began as he examined the drone now sitting on the operations table “this is not your average toy drone,” he said “this thing is _state_ of the state-of-the-art,” he proclaimed “this is like something my father might’ve built in one of his more….’murder-y’ moments”

“Wonderful” Astra grumbled

“We found a partial fingerprint on the drone’s casing,” Alex explained as she pulled up the Interpol file “meet ‘John Corbin’, international mercenary and assassin for hire. He’s got ties to Intergang, a recent revolution in Kasnia. Basically, if you want someone killed, he’s your man”

“All right,” Astra began “we know who his target is, I don’t suppose Ms. Luthor was willing to accept an offer of protection?”

“No” Alex shook her head

“Of course not,” Astra grumbled “all right, the LuthorCorp press conference is when?”

“Three hours” Alex replied

“Well,” Lucy began “we could just post agents in plainclothes in and around LuthorCorp Plaza”

“Yes, but that still doesn’t tell us _who_ wants Ms. Luthor dead,” Astra sighed, she glanced at Superman “is there anyone you might’ve pissed off lately?” she wondered

“Besides you, you mean?” he countered, he shook his head “no, no one that I can think off”

“Wonderful” Astra grumbled…

******

Three hours came and went with surprising quickness. At exactly two o’clock, Alex found herself standing in the crowd at LuthorCorp Plaza with dozens of spectators and reports. With the recent attack on Lena’s helicopter, the NCPD wasn’t taking any chances it seemed, Alex had already spotted two plainclothes officers and at least a dozen more in fully uniform. Nearby she also saw James and Kara, James snapping pictures, while Kara seemed to be writing down something, clearly posing as a reporter.

As Alex turned her attention back to the podium, Clark Kent quietly shuffled up next to her

“Anything?” she asked

“No,” he shook his head as he absent-mindedly pushed his glasses back up “you?”

“Not a thing. If Corbin’s here, he’s hiding,” she frowned “Clark,” she began “what’s up with you and Astra?”

“Nothing” he replied

She snorted “That may have fooled Lois for nearly ten years, but not me,” she fixed him with a hard look “she’s _trying_ OK? For the past two years she’s helped to protect us, all of us, including you. So, why do you…hate her so much?”

“I don’t _hate_ her, Alex,” he replied “I just don’t _trust_ her is all. She can’t offer friendship with one hand and poison with the other” anything else he was going to say was lost as he and others—including Alex—applauded as Lena Luthor came out and stepped up to the podium

“Thank you all for coming,” she began “as you all know, my brother’s actions against Superman twelve years ago, forever tarnished the Luthor name. The name ‘Luthor’ became synonymous with ‘criminal’ and ‘killer’ and the company my father helped to build became a laughingstock of the corporate world. It is my hope that today marks a new beginning for both the Luthor name and the LuthorCorp. It is with great pleasure that I announce the rebranding of ‘LuthorCorp’ as ‘L-Corp’!”

Banners behind her unfurled, revealing the new corporate logo while the crowd cheered and applauded vigorously

“Here’s hoping she’s right” Clark muttered.

Suddenly an explosion shook the entire plaza, the shockwave rippled through the ground, knocking people off their feet as a fireball lit up the basement area of the building. Struggling to her feet, Alex watched as cracks began to splinter up the side of the building as the entire structure began to violently list to one side…

******

Kara grunted as she dodged the crowd, finally finding a safe spot to change into her suit. Emerging from behind the trashcan—she made a note to talk to Clark about how he did it—she looked around the plaza, stumbling as more explosions shook the ground. She watched as James suddenly lunged, throwing a woman out of the path of a falling piece of rubble. Swooping in, Kara thrust out an arm, the slab of concrete striking her arm and shattering. Glancing over at James, she saw him nod in silent answer

“Go!” he ordered, nodding back she took off, swiftly flying towards the building and pressing her hands against the rapidly-crumbling concrete, trying to hold the building upright

“Here!” she looked over as Clark came over next to her and pressed his hands against the building. But even with the two of them it wasn’t enough, the building was still literally disintegrating under their hands

“Winn?!” Kara called out “I need some help!”

“ _Yeah, OK, it looks like Corbin took out the building’s main support column at the northeast corner,_ ” Winn explained “ _it’s the building’s one weak spot,_ ” he added “ _just like that little ventilation port on the Death Star_ ”

“I don’t need a _Star Wars_ reference, Winn,” Kara panted out “I need to know how to stop it!”

“ _Right, OK,_ ” Winn began “ _so, what you need to do is---_ ”

“ _Fix the column and you fix the building! Simple!_ ” Astra interrupted. Kara frantically looked around for something that could hold up a twenty story building, suddenly spotting a construction truck down below. Focusing her vision she saw that it was loaded with steel I-beams

“I’m going to fix the building” she announced

“Go,” Clark nodded, looking strained “I got this, go” he nodded. Flying down, Kara quickly gathered four I-beams and flew them into the building’s basement…

******

Alex watched as an NCPD officer approached Lena Luthor and her bodyguards. He was walking too slowly, calmly, like he knew that this would all happen.

She tapped her comm. “I’ve got eyes on Corbin” she announced

“ _Acknowledged,_ ” Astra replied “ _be careful_ ” she added..

******

Landing inside the basement, Kara quickly spotted the problem, for a second she merely stood there, stunned. The column extended down from the ceiling and up from the floor, but in the middle where the two halves were supposed to meet was nothing but air.

Taking a breath, Kara shot around the column in a blur of superspeed, propping the four I-beams up against the column at an angle. But the building was still shaking, taking a breath, Kara aimed a blast of heat vision at the I-beams, the steel melting into the column, welding it in place, and slowly, the building stopped shaking…

******

Alex dodged a few more panicking people. Corbin was practically on top of Lena now. As she watched, he calmly drew his gun, taking aim at Lena

“Corbin!” With a grunt, Alex lunged, tackling him to the ground and knocking his gun away from him, only to gasp and he quickly flowed to his feet, wrenching one of her arms behind her back and quickly stealing her gun, pressing it to her neck all in one fluid movement.

With a whoosh Kara slammed into the ground in front of them

“Let her go” she ordered as Alex kicked and wriggled in Corbin’s grip, but he was too strong, the angle all wrong, her arm was held back in such a way that she was being forced to bend backwards, forced to stand on tiptoe, denying her the much needed leverage to throw him off.

“No, I don’t think so,” Corbin hissed “because right now this lovely young woman is my ticket out of here”

“Lex Luthor paid you to kill his sister didn’t he?” Alex gasped out as the pieces fell into place “that’s how you got past her security, got access to the building”

“Mr. Luthor still has quite a long reach from inside maximum lockup,” Corbin confirmed “he didn’t like the idea of her destroying his legacy,” he pressed the gun barrel closer against her skin “shall we find out if the Girl of Steel is faster than a speeding bullet?” he hissed

There was a whoosh and suddenly Corbin was flying away from Alex. Rolling to his feet, and still holding her gun, he took aim, only for another gunshot to pierce the air. Corbin grunted, gagging, as his back suddenly arched, blood staining the front of his stolen uniform before he suddenly collapsed to the ground, blood oozing out of his gut. Looking past him, Alex saw Astra standing behind him, gun drawn

“Don’t touch what’s mine” she muttered as she calmly holstered her gun and stepped over his limp form. Shaking off the tension, Alex crouched down and examined Corbin

“Bullet went through and through…no major vessels have been hit,” she sighed “he’ll need a hospital, but he’ll live”

“Good,” Astra nodded “I’m sure Interpol will be very pleased…”

******

It took hours for all the reports to be filled—in triplicate—but finally, as the sun sank low on the horizon, Alex was able to hit ‘ENTER’ and see her report be electronically filed

“You look tired” Astra commented as she sat down next to her, setting a bag of what looked like takeout down on the desk

“Ugh, I feel like a mile of bad road,” Alex groaned “how’d the UN take the news?” she wondered

“Both pleased and pissed,” Astra answered “the British ambassador is pleased that we got Corbin in custody, while the American ambassador wanted to know why we took so long in apprehending him”

“Ugh, bureaucrats,” Alex groaned “glad I don’t have your job”

“So am I,” Astra smiled and gently reached out, curling her fingers around Alex’s “you really scared me back there, when he had a gun to your throat”

“Hey, I’m fine,” Alex grinned “for one thing, I’ve got you, Kara, and J’onn all looking out for me”

“Speaking of Kara, where is she?” Astra wondered

“Oh, helping Clark to stop an armored car robbery,” Alex explained “you know he’s going to be sticking around for a while, right?”

Astra nodded “I know” she said

“Is that for me?” Alex asked, nodding towards the takeout bag

“Hmm? Oh, no, sorry,” Astra shrugged “it’s for a friend…although you can some if you want”

Alex shook her head “No, that’s fine,” she smiled and gave Astra a gentle nudge “go on,” she encouraged “go and see him…”

******

The room was silent save for the sound of Astra turning the pages of her book. She glanced up briefly, but so far, the other person in the room refused to speak, simply sitting there picking at the food in his lap

“It’s strange,” Non spoke up from within the cell suddenly “I find myself remembering the faces of all those I killed”

“It’s not pleasant, is it?” Astra asked as she looked up from her book

“No,” Non agreed “it’s not,” he frowned “I didn’t even know their names” he realized

“I’m sorry,” Astra apologized “but this is a good thing” she encouraged

Non only nodded shakily in response

“Perhaps there’s hope for you yet,” Astra muttered as she went back to her book. Frowning, she stood up “I’d like to read you something, if I may,” she said “its part of a poem by a man named Edger Allan Poe, it’s called _The Raven_ ,” she cleared her throat “ _’And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting/On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door/And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming/And the lamplight o’er him streaming throws his shadow across the floor/And my soul from out that shadow lies floating on the floor/Shall be lifted---nevermore’_ ”

And as she watched, tears began to silently run down Non’s face…


	7. Last Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We each bear the burden of carrying on the work of those who came before us. AU of "The Last Children of Krypton"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SEVEN! Enjoy! :=)

******

Alex watched the news footage as Superman and Kara took off. They’d already helped to put out a five alarm fire and stopped two bank robbers and seemed not willing or ready to stop just yet

“When you two are done playing around, there are reports of a Kilgori in the park,” Astra barked out “perhaps you’d like to check it out?” she added sarcastically

“ _On our way, Aunt Astra!_ ” Kara chirped “ _#TooMuchFun!_ ” she added. Astra scowled as she took out her comm.

“Remind me to revoke her clearance sometime” she muttered

“Hey come on, you’d said you try to be nice while her cousin was here,” Alex remind her “she’s _happy_ , OK? It’s not everyday that she gets to…” she trailed off as Kara whooped for joy over the comm. “OK, that’s a little embarrassing” she admitted

“If you need me, I’ll be in the shooting range, doing target practice” Astra grumbled as she stalked off

“Wow, what’s with her?” Winn wondered “I mean, sure, she’s never…you know… _jolly_ , but…yikes! I haven’t seen her this pissed since you got stabbed”

Alex sighed “She’s just…being Astra, Winn,” she replied, she smirked “thanks for the kidney by the way” she added, patting her side, over the scar from her kidney transplant

“No problem,” he smiled “no refunds though, so if it doesn’t work out for you, I’m not taking it back”

******

Alex started worrying when Kara missed her check-in time

“When was the last time you heard from her?” Astra asked as they geared with the rest of the strike team

“About an hour ago, right after you told her about the Kilgoi” Alex replied

“Damn it!” Astra snarled as she loaded her gun, and Alex could see the concern for Kara there in her body language, the tightness of her jaw, the tension in her hands, all signs that she was filled with a righteous, protective fury “let’s move!” she ordered “double time, people!”

As the strike team moved out into the main area, they all stopped as Kara and Superman flew in, both perfectly unharmed

“Supergirl, what happened?” Alex asked “you never gave us an update on the Kilgori”

“Oh, that little guy?” Superman asked “we just dropped him off in containment”

“Sorry,” Kara blushed “we were just---”

“#TooMuchFun, I know,” Astra scoffed “now, your cousin doesn’t work for the DEO,” she began “but you do, and that means checking in so that we can make sure that you’re all right. Next time, you check in”

“Director…” Superman began

“Save it,” Astra snapped “this is my command and I will discipline my agents in whatever way I see fit. Even _if_ they are related to me. If you don’t like it, then you’re more than welcome to go back to Metropolis”

Superman looked as if he was about to object, but stopped as the lights suddenly flickered

“Mr. Schott?” Astra asked as she and the others marched forward towards the console

“Don’t look at me,” Winn held up his hands “this isn’t me” he added as the main monitors began flickering, images of Superman and Kara flitting by along with a ghostly face

“ _You have been deceived,_ ” a distorted voice suddenly proclaimed “ _taught to put your trust in demons disguised as angels. In beings that could destroy us all with a flick of their finger. Today marks the beginning of a new age. An age where we will no longer bow down to the invaders; no longer will Humanity live in fear of alien oppression. We are the sword, the shield; we are your salvation from the Alien. We are the scientists who will show the world how to fight back, who will show the aliens that humanity is no longer something to be ignored. We…are Cadmus_ ”

Silence reigned as the monitors returned to normal

“That can’t be,” Lucy muttered “we haven’t heard anything from Cadmus since they assaulted the DEO six months ago”

“They must have, you know, gone underground” Winn suggested

“And now they’re declaring open war” Astra hissed

“I don’t like this,” Alex muttered “if Cadmus is feeling gutsy enough to do a whole televised manifesto…”

“...then they must have something that they think will give them the upper hand” Astra finished

“They have my father,” Alex reminded her “god knows what they’re doing to him”

“We _will_ find him, Alex,” Astra assured her “in the meantime, there isn’t anything we can do right now, Cadmus hasn’t made any direct overtures or attacks, all we have is a rather clichéd sermon. All we can do right now is wait…”

******

Alex huffed as she grabbed a beer from the fridge. She knew that she should say something, complain, yell at Kara for inviting Clark over to sisters night, but…she couldn’t, she didn’t know why, not really, but she couldn’t. Kara was happy, that was all that mattered

“Does Clark drink beer?” she asked

“Uh, nope, nothing for him,” Kara replied as a knock came at the door “I know that alcohol doesn’t affect us, but he still won’t fly after drinking”

“Nerd” Alex muttered as Kara opened the door, exuberantly letting Clark in

“Oh,” Clark suddenly look uncomfortable “I didn’t know that Astra was going to be here” he admitted as he noticed Astra sitting on Kara’s couch

“Problem, Kal-El?” Astra asked, idly turning the page of her book

“Uh, no, no, not at all,” Clark fiddled with his glasses, a habit that Kara seemed to share “and it’s ‘Clark’.” he added, a slight bit of steel in his voice

“If you say so,” Astra dismissed “…Kal-El”

“Hey,” Alex nudged her as she came and sat down next her “be nice!” she hissed 

“So, anyway,” Kara turned back to Clark, all bright eyed and bushy tailed “I was thinking that maybe tomorrow…”

“Actually,” Clark interrupted gently “I was thinking that I should be heading back to Metropolis”

“Oh,” Kara’s face visibly fell “really?” she asked hopefully “’cause I mean you practically just got here, and…”

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” Clark explained “and, besides, if I don’t get back soon, Mr. White might just fire me”

“Well, we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” Astra drawled

“Hey, hey, shut up,” Alex pointed to the TV “look”

“ _…a man who appears posed to jump off the edge of the Otto Binder Bridge_ ” the newscaster announced as live footage from a helicopter over the bridge clearly showed a man standing on the railing of the bridge, ready to through himself off any second

Kara turned back to Clark

“One more for the road?” she asked

“I’d be honored…”

******

The bridge had already been evacuated once Kara and Superman landed. Taking a breath, Kara slowly approached the man

“Sir?” she called out gently, remembering to keep her voice low and steady, she didn’t to startle the poor man “could you come down here?” she tried “look, I’m sure we can just talk this out,”

The man turned to face them, and Kara felt a chill go through her

“Corbin?” she hissed as John Corbin smirked at her

“No,” he rasped “Metallo” he suddenly threw out his arms, a bright burst of green energy lashing out from his chest to knock Kara off her feet. Slidng back against a car, she choked and gagged, it felt like kryptonite only worse. Straightening up, she aimed a blast of heat vision at him, but Corbin threw out a hand, catching the blast against his palm, seemingly unconcerned even as his hand burst into flames, the flesh burning away to reveal the gleam of metal beneath. Hoping off the ledge, he aimed a blast at Clark, pitching him back a few feet, before returning his attention to Kara.

There was another blast of green light…then blackness surrounded her…


	8. Best Defense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do the ends ever justify the means?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! :=)

******

_**“… we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parley; we may show mercy—we shall ask for none”** _

\--Winston Churchill

******

Alex looked up as Superman landed in the DEO, supporting a weak-looking Kara under one arm

“You got her?” he asked as Alex swiftly rushed over and took Kara’s weight

“Yeah,” she replied “come on, let’s get you to the sunlamps” she encouraged

“I’m fine,” Kara dismissed, a slight slur to her words as she shrugged off Alex’s arm “I’m just a little dizzy”

“Astra!” Alex gulped as Superman marched over to Astra “you told me that only the DEO has access to kryptonite. Well, would you care to explain to me how a kryptonite-powered cyborg nearly tried to disintegrate us tonight?”

Astra sighed

“A shipment of kryptonite was stolen from one of our storage facilities in Nevada three months ago” she explained

“Three months,” Alex whispered “why wasn’t I told about this?” she demanded

“It was need-to-know,” Astra explained “we thought that it might have been an inside job, but so far, the team transporting the shipment is clean”

“And you didn’t think to mention this little detail to me?” Clark demanded

“You’re not a member of the DEO, Superman,” Astra reminded him “therefore I’m not required to tell you anything”

“Whoa! Whoa! Hang on! Time out,” Winn waved his hands “back up a second here guys, _who’s_ the killer cyborg?” he asked

“It was John Corbin” Kara explained

“Corbin?” Lucy asked, as Alex groaned

“Cadmus!” she spat as the pieces fell into place

“And now they have kryptonite,” Superman spat as he glowered at Astra “I told you,” he hissed “I told you that it was dangerous! Damn it, Henshaw _used_ it on you!”

“And I told you that without it we wouldn’t have stood a chance once Non and Ursa launched Myriad,” Astra countered “or need I remind you of your brief stint as a _marionette_?”

“There is always— _always_ —another way” Superman hissed

“Oh, yes, of course,” Astra threw out her arms in exasperation “talk. Discuss,” she mocked “and while you ‘talk’, while you ‘debate’, our enemy is making _more_ weapons, training _more_ soldiers, indoctrinating _more_ recruits, filling the airwaves with _more_ anti-alien propaganda. But, yes, by all means, form a committee why don’t you?” she leveled Superman with a glare “we are _at war_ , Kal-El, at war with an enemy whose goal is nothing short of the compete and total extermination of every alien on this planet,” she hissed “Cadmus has already struck the first blow, and why? Because _we_ were not prepared, because _we_ were too worried about things like ‘ _morality’_ , and ‘ _ethics’_!” she sneered “well, no more! No more waiting with our heads in the sand. No more discussions, no more debates. The line has to be drawn _here!_ This far and no further!”

Silence reigned as she took a steadying breath, suddenly seeming to realize that she had gone too far, said far too much. Alex slowly approached her, gently placing a steadying hand on her arm

“So, what do you want us to do?” she asked quietly. Astra took a slow breath

“Mr. Schott?” she asked, Winn looked up “pull Non and Ursa’s anti-kryptonite technology out of storage, see if you can adapt it for the four of us”

“Wait, so…I get to design Superman’s new suit?” Winn squeaked out

“No pressure” Lucy chuckled, giving him a playful squeeze on the arm

“OK,” Alex began “we know that Cadmus is using Corbin, so now the question is, how do we find him?”

“Whatever metal Cadmus used to reinforce Corbin’s skeleton is extremely durable,” Superman began “Kara hit him with a blast of heat vision and it didn’t even slow him down,” he held up his hand “now, when I punched him, some of that metal might’ve been left behind on my hand. I can analyze it using the technology at the Fortress of Solitude”

Astra nodded “Good idea,” she said, her voice sounding like her confidence was returning “agent Vasquez, go with him, see if you can figure what the hell Cadmus did to Corbin”

“Aye, ma’am” Susan nodded, already shifting out his human form as he followed Superman to the entrance

“Supergirl, Agent Danvers,” Astra turned to look at the sisters, she looked…frightened, Alex realized “come with me” she added softly…

******

“ _ **Impressive,**_ ” J’onn noted as he landed next to Superman, shifting back into human form. He looked up at the two towering statutes above them, the cold arctic wind ruffling Susan Vasquez’s hair “your birth parents?” he asked

“Yes” Superman nodded

[They have not left you. Even in death] J’onn recited in Kryptonese, opening his eyes to find Superman staring at him surprise

“You speak Kryptonian?” he asked

“Why wouldn’t I?” J’onn asked “we’re all survivors of dead worlds, Clark. You, me, Kara, Astra. All of us are just…orphans, strays”

“Why didn’t you stop her?” Superman asked “you saw what kryptonite did to me, what it can do to Kara. Even Astra. So…why didn’t you stop her?”

“Because I know what it feels like to be caught defenseless,” J’onn explained “I know what it feels like to lose _everything_. Mars is a crypt, Clark. I’m all that’s left. I saw my people _burn_ , experienced and endured a kind of cruelty and brutality that I hope to god Earth never sees. And so has Astra. Do you think that the prisoners in Fort Rooz just _overlooked_ the fact that she’s Alura Zor-El’s twin sister? That she looked _exactly like_ the woman who put her in there? That the constant abuse that they merited out to her every day, year after year, because of that fact didn’t drive her to the edge of insanity? Now you can hate her all you want, mistrust her, think she’s borderline insane—hell half the time I think that maybe she _is_ insane—disagree with her methods all you want, but know this: she will do _everything_ she possibly can to protect this planet from suffer the same fate that Krypton did, that Mars did. That she has dedicated her life to protecting this planet. No matter the cost”

“ _’Victory at all costs’’_ Is that it?” Superman shook his head “the ends never justify the means”

“Maybe,” J’onn agreed “maybe not. But, like Astra said, we’re at war now. In war, anything goes…”

******

“So, where are we going?” Alex asked as the elevator took them down into the depths of the building, past the prisoner cells, far below street level. Finally reaching an area marked on the panel as ‘Sub-level 4’, the doors opened and they emerged into a bare corridor

“I’m sure you both remember when Cadmus launched an assault on us six months ago” Astra began as she led them down the corridor to a door at the far end

“Who could forget?” Kara muttered

“There were six Cadmus operatives during the assault,” Astra began “one that Alex killed, two more were killed by me, not to mention the remaining ten in the helicopter that I took out. Now, of those three, one was Winn shot in the leg by Winn, he later committed suicide via cyanide capsule. The second operative died from his injuries in the infirmary. Leaving only one,”

Astra nodded to the door before giving Alex and Kara each a firm look “Brace yourselves” she warned as she typed in her access code, the heavy door sliding open with a dull _thud_.

Inside the room looked like the other prisoner cells, the cell itself being occupied by a solitary figure, secured with heavy chains. As the trio entered, the lights came on fully, the dim, shadowed glow being replaced by an almost-blinding brightness.

The figure slowly turned to face them, chains clinking as he did. He frowned, smirking as he saw the three woman “Hello, Kryptonian” he rasped

“Hello, Hank,” Astra replied “how’s kicks?” she drawled as Hank Henshaw slowly rose to his full height…


	9. Psychological Warfare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triple update! Enjoy! :=). Trigger warning for psychological torture

******

**_"...we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be"_ **

\--Winston Churchill

******

“ _Greetings, Lord Kal-El,_ ” Kelex greeted it floated over

“Hello, Kelex” Clark replied

“ _How may I assist you?_ ” Kelex asked

Clark held out his hand “Scan for any unusual molecules, if you would” he requested. A beam of blue light emerged from Kelex’s head, scanning his hand

“ _Analysis complete. Scans show traces of the element known as ‘promethium’, the hardest material known to this world_ ” Kelex reported

“Promethium’?” Susan echoed “now that’s interesting”

“You know it?” Clark asked

Susan nodded “I do” she confirmed

******

Alex watched as Hank Henshaw glanced between Astra and Kara, before finally settling on her

“Alexandra Danvers,” he chuckled “look at you. Jeremiah’s little girl, all grown up”

“No thanks to you” Astra spat as Alex simply stared at the man. He’d survived. Her father’s sacrifice had all been for nothing. No, not for nothing, she realized, because Astra wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t done something, she took comfort in that fact as Hank returned his gaze to Astra

“How’s the leg?” he sneered

“How’s your head?” Astra countered as Alex found herself marching up to the cell

“Where is my father?” she demanded

Henshaw scowled at her “If I’m lucky, he’s still rotting away somewhere in the Cascades,” he sneered “why? You want him back?”

Alex lunged, slamming her fist on the transparency

“Agent Danvers! Stand down!” Astra ordered. Breathing harshly, Alex backed off, moving back to stand between Kara and Astra

“Look at you,” Henshaw laughed “you’ve got ‘em all well trained, haven’t you….Kryptonian?” he sneered at Astra “I’m surprised Sam Lane let something like you walk around free” he added

“Actually, General Lane likes me,” Astra smirked, she held up the file she’d grabbed from her office before leading Alex and Kara down here “you on the other hand…,” she opened the file “ _’Hank Henshaw shows a marked disregard—indeed, a hatred—for women, homosexuals, and ethnic minorities. Despite the gravity of the situation, it is my personal recommendation that he be_ removed _from his post as director of the Department of Extra normal Operations and be replaced with a more level-headed commander. Effective immediately’_ ,” Astra hefted the file “from General Lane’s report on the DEO, following your promotion to director,” she explained “care to hear mine?”

“What do you want?” Henshaw growled

“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,” Astra nodded “well, what I want, is for you to tell me everything that you know about Cadmus, locations, the number and identities of those in command. Everything”

“Fuck you,” Henshaw spat “you think I’m going to talk to you? Going to ruin Earth’s one chance at salvation?” he scoffed “not on your life, alien”

Astra shut the file with a _snap_

“Perhaps I’ll just have to persuade you then” she warned

Henshaw chuckled “You know when the doctors at Cadmus put me back together they didn’t use any anesthetic?” he laughed “so, go ahead, alien, you can break as many of my bones as you want, I’m still not talking”

“Oh, Hank,” Astra shook her head “do you think this is the movies? We’re not going to torture you,” she moved over to the control panel, tapping in the sequence to open the cell. Turning and calmly stepping inside the cell “sit down,” she gestured for Hank to sit down “as I said we’re not going to torture you. For one thing, we simply don’t have the time. Now, then,” she opened his file again “its says here that you served in Southeast Asia and the Philippines during your time with the CIA?”

“What about it?” Hank growled

“Just checking” in a lightening quick movement Astra suddenly whipped out a syringe and stabbed it into his neck. Grunting, Hank lunged at her, the chains pulling him back and preventing him from reaching her

“What did you do to me?!” he growled “what is this?”

Astra held up an empty vial “A particularly _vicious_ strain of hemorrhagic fever,” she replied, she glanced at her watch “the early symptoms should start within…oh, half an hour, starting with intense headaches, back and abdominal pains, fever, chills, nausea and blurred vision. Oh, and of course diarrhea and respiratory problems”

“You’re bluffing,” Hank spat “you wouldn’t risk losing your only information source” he pointed out

“Hmm, normally, I wouldn’t,” Astra nodded “but, that was until we found this,” she reached into her pocket and held up a vial of clear liquid “it’s a glandular extract from the Sova. Its already proven effective at combating Ebola and the West Nile virus,” Hank’s eyes focused on the vial in her hands with a frightening intensity “now, of course, if this isn’t administered quickly enough then the victim dies. Rather horribly, I might add,” she turned towards the doors “make up your mind fast, Hank,” she added “you’ve only got two hours”

******

Following Astra out into the corridor, Alex sprinted in front of her

“What the hell?” she demanded “what did you give him?”

Astra held out the empty vial “Take a look” she said. Alex frowned at the label

“Saline?” she asked

“What’s that?” Kara asked

“Salt water basically,” Alex explained “completely harmless”

“So…I’m confused,” Kara began “if you didn’t give him anything harmful, then…why bother telling him it was a deadly virus?”

“Psychological warfare” Alex realized, Astra nodded

“People like Hank Hensahaw thrive on fear and paranoia,” she explained “to him and others like them, an alien is the physical embodiment of terror. We’re not Human, we don’t think like Humans, we don’t share the same values and morals. Our very presence is a threat to human existence”

“So...you’re going to scare him into talking?” Kara asked

“Basically,” Astra nodded “oftentimes the _fear_ of torture is _infinitely_ more effective than actual torture,” she nodded to the doors behind them “men like Hank Hensahw are driven by fear, to them the glass is always half empty. You look at a rainstorm and see water falling from the sky. He looks at the rain and wonders how long it’ll be until his house floods”

Alex sighed “Why didn’t you tell us that he was still alive?” she demanded

“What would you have done?” Astra wondered “gone to see him? Ask if he felt remorse for what he did? Maybe rough him a bit?” she shook her head “I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to hold on to Jeremiah’s memory, to remember your father as the good man he was. Not think only of his killer”

“Would you ever have told us?” Alex wondered

“What do you think?” Astra asked quietly

Alex sighed, feeling the rug slip out from under her feet again “We need to work on our communications skills,” she muttered. She glanced at her watch “so, how long until he cracks?”

“Depends on his willpower,” Astra shrugged “he could crack in a few minutes or in several days. It all depends on how much he’s willing to believe that I’d actually use something like that on him…”

******

“So, wait,” Winn began, lifting up his safety glasses to stare at Alex “Hank Henshaw’s _alive?_ ”

“That’s right” Alex answered as she kept pacing the length of the lab, while Lucy merely sat across from Winn and watched Alex pace in between handing him tools

“Hank Henshaw,” Winn repeated “the guy who killed your father?”

“That’s him,” Alex nodded “god! Why doesn’t she ever _tell_ me these things?!” she demanded, angrily raking a hand through her hair “I mean its not like I couldn’t handle it, I’m not some child!”

“Are you _sure_ about that?” Lucy asked “because it looks to me right now that you’re not handling it”

“Where does she get off keeping something like this from me?!” Alex demanded, ignoring Lucy as she started pacing again “oh, and of course, let’s not forget her not mentioning that Cadmus stole a shipment of kryptonite three months ago!” she ran a hand through her hair again, letting out a short frustrated snarl “I love her,” she sighed “I do. But sometimes, I swear…”

“…she makes you want to shake her and scream ‘what are you doing?’,” Lucy finished “I get it” she nodded

“Look,” Winn sighed “this is probably going to sound horribly clichéd but...I think Astra really does want you safe. Even from the stuff that can’t hurt you physically”

“He’s right,” Lucy added as she handed Winn a screwdriver “she may go about it the wrong way, but I think she does only wants what’s best for you and Kara”

“Then why not _tell_ me that Hank Henshaw was still alive?” Alex demanded “why not tell me that he was not only still alive, but locked up in the basement?”

“I think it’s because it’s the only way she knows how,” Lucy sighed “she’s a solider right? A general? So, I think keeping secrets is the only way she knows how to protect everyone she loves. Lying and hiding it away instead of having it out in the open to hurt you”

Alex sighed, realizing that Lucy was right. In her own bizarre way, Astra had been trying to spare her the pain of knowing that her father’s killer was still alive. Never mind the fact that Jeremiah was still alive and held captive by Henshaw’s masters.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as her comm. chirped

“ _Henshaw’s ready to talk_ ” Astra’s voice announced…

******

Henshaw was shivering violently when Alex and Astra entered his cell again. Sweat poured down his head and face, his nose was bleeding, his eyes were red and bloodshot, and he was drooling a little. For a moment Alex simply stared, awed at the fact that he had produced these horrifying symptoms all in his own head

“Well?” Astra demanded

“G-g-g-give me the a-a-antidote and I’ll t-talk” Hensahaw slurred, trembling violently in his chains

“First the information,” Astra ordered “then maybe I’ll consider prolonging your miserable excuse of a life,”

Hank groaned, doubling over in his restraints, gagging and retching

“I’m waiting” Astra prompted

“All right,” Hank panted out “Cadmus is organized into cells, some small some large, they don’t answer to anyone except themselves”

“I want names, Hank,” Astra snarled “who’s running the operations? Who ordered the theft of the kryptonite from Area 49?”

“Don’t, don’t know,” Hank shook his head violently “they, they tortured me,” he panted out “put something in my head, made me tell them whatever they wanted”

“The leader, Hank. Who is it?”

“Some, some woman. Don’t know her name,” he moaned pitifully “that’s all I know, I swear!”

Astra leaned in, inches away from his face, eyes searching “If you’re lying to me…” she began

“I’m not,” Hank frantically shook his head, groaning “ _please,_ ” he begged “the antidote”

“What antidote?” Astra scoffed as she straightened up “all I gave you was an injection of saline”

Hank stared at her, the dumbfounded expression on his face downright comical…


	10. Communication Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TEN! Enjoy! :=)

******

Alex watched as Hank Hesnshaw violently thrashed in his chains, his obscene screams silenced with the audio of the security camera turned down

“Is he _still_ at it?” Astra asked as she came over

“Yep” Alex took a sip from her lukewarm coffee

“God, grow up,” Astra muttered “you lose this round, Hank”

“I don’t think he told us everything he knows,” Alex said as she set her coffee mug down “I think he gave us just enough to satisfy us for now”

“I figured he wouldn’t,” Astra nodded “still,” she sighed “it’s better than what we had, which was nothing”

Alex shook her head as she stared at the image of Henshaw silently raging at them through the monitor “How did he survive?” she wondered

“Apparently, according to our doctors, he was resurrected through some very advanced, very experimental, cybernetics,” Astra explained “both of his legs, right arm, right eye, and a good majority of his skull and spine, have all been either augmented with cybernetic implants or entirely replaced. Even his internal organs, his heart is entirely artificial now. Although, how that’s different from what it was before, I’m not sure”

Alex couldn’t help but snort out of a brief half laugh at that last comment

“So, he’s like Steve Austin now, huh?” she mused

“Actually, he calls himself ‘Cyborg Superman’ now” Astra explained with a roll of her eyes

“Oh, now that’s just cheesy” Alex snorted

“Any word on Mr. Schott and the anti-kryptonite shielding?” Astra wondered

“He and Lucy are still working on it,” Alex explained “apparently, Lucy’s got a minor in engineering,” she added, she rolled her neck back with a tired groan “I’ve also got Vasquez scanning the entire city for a promethium radiation signature, so…here’s hoping,” she shrugged as she looked up at the other woman “Astra…” she began

“I was just trying to protect you,” Astra interrupted quietly “both of you”

“I know that,” Alex nodded “I understand why you did it. But…damn it, Astra, we had a right to _know_ ,” she emphasized “we, both Kara and I, had a right to know that he was still alive”

“I know you did,” Astra whispered “and in hindsight, I probably should have told you both about him from the moment I saw him in the infirmary. But, between Colonel Harper and Cadmus’ raid, and then Myriad going on-line…” she trailed off

“I know” Alex nodded

“Are we…,” Astra began “are we…OK?” she asked quietly

Alex sighed “No,” she answered honestly “but…we will be”

“That’s all I need to know”

“Director In-Ze” both women turned to see General Lane approaching them. He was accompanied by a small contingent of soldiers, all of whom were dressed in full camouflage, Lane included

“General Lane,” Astra shook his hand “this is an unexpected surprise”

“Yes, I’m sorry for the short notice,” Lane apologized “but, given the circumstances, Washington feels that my presence might be required. Especially since we have evidence that Cadmus is behind the theft of the kryptonite”

“In other words they’re still trying to exert some influence on the DEO,” Alex guessed “because they’re still pissed that we don’t work for them anymore”

Lane smirked “Something like that,” he nodded. He turned to Astra “so, care to bring me up to speed, Director?”

“Of course,” Astra gestured to her office “this way…”

******

“You know, I still can’t get over how _nice_ your Dad is to me” Winn muttered as he poked at the anti-kryptonite device on the table in front of him

“Why? You want him to call you ‘worthless’ and ‘not good enough’ for me?” Lucy countered as she peered over his shoulder

“No,” Winn snorted “just…you know, you always hear these horror stories about your girlfriend’s dads, you know? I guess I was still kind of expecting that”

“Well, just be lucky you aren’t,” Lucy explained “and god’s sake don’t piss him off,” she warned as the device let out a spark, causing them both to jump back “OK,” Lucy sighed “what is the problem here?” she sighed

“It’s all the kryptonite trace in the air,” Winn sighed, waving away the smoke “damn, it’s like a kryptonite locker room in here” he muttered

“Wait, kryptonite leaves a trace?” Lucy asked, the gears in her head already turning

“Sure,” Winn shrugged “just like any other radio—oh!” he stopped and peered at her, bug-eyed through the safety goggles, grinning “hey, here’s a crazy thought. Why don’t you and I grab some Geiger counters and get crazy and go down to the _actual_ locker room?” he suggested

Lucy grinned as she leaned in and gave him a quick peek on the cheek

“You always know how to show a girl a good time…”

******

While Astra was debriefing General Lane, and Lucy and Winn were playing with radioactive isotopes, Kara was just getting off the elevator at CatCo, waving at James as she did

“I know, I know, I’m late,” she sighed “I’m still a little slow after that blast Corbin hit me with” she explained as he led her into his office

“Are you sure you’re OK?” he asked concerned

“I’m fine” Kara dismissed

“You don’t look it,” James pointed out “you got that…crinkle on your forehead you get whenever you’re upset” he pointed at the spot just above her eyes

“What?” she snorted “no, I don’t!”

James pointed again “Crinkle” he declared

“Oh! Not the crinkle!” Kara moaned, flopping down into his chair with a sigh “Hank Henshaw is still alive” she explained

James sat up and stared at her “Hank Henshaw? Wait, _Hank Henshaw?_ The man who murdered Alex’s father?”

“Yep,” Kara sighed “turns out he’s been locked up in the DEO’s basement ever since Cadmus attacked and tried to release all the prisoners six months ago”

“So, wait, Astra knew?” James asked

“She knew,” Kara sighed “and she didn’t tell us. Just like she didn’t tell us that a shipment of kryptonite was stolen three months ago during the UN changeover”

“Cadmus” James realized

“Sure looks like it,” Kara threw her head back with a sigh “Lucy and Winn say that Astra didn’t tell us because she was trying to protect us”

“I think they’re right,” James nodded “look,” he sighed “I don’t know Astra all that well, I only met her once when Clark introduced us, but…I think she feels that she can protect everyone, or at the very least that she should be the one to try. So, she tries to protect you and Alex the only way she knows how”

“By trying to spare us the pain,” Kara sighed “I know, Lucy told me as such”

“Well, Lucy’s a very smart person, so she’s probably right” James chuckled

“Well, if she’s so smart then why don’t you date her?” Kara teased

“Because I met you” James replied, leaning in for a kiss. Kara snorted

“Good answer” she told him as she swiftly leaned in and closed the gap between them, breaking away at an angry shout of

“ _Ker-iah!!!_ ”

“Oh no,” Kara groaned “rain check?” she asked as she hurried to the door “maybe more kissing after we stop the bad guy?”

“I’ll be here” James grinned, making a shooing motion with his hands

Kara straightened her spine as she prepared to face an irate Cat Grant “Right…”

******

Lucy frowned at the Geiger counter in her hands as she and Winn crept into the locker room

“So, what am I looking for here?” she whispered

“No, you’re not looking, you’re listening,” Winn whispered back “it should beep,” he explained as they slowly moved down one row of locker with no reaction from the Geiger counter “you know, I had a fantasy like this” he muttered as they moved onto the third row

Lucy snorted “Save it for when we’re done, buddy,” she chuckled, freezing as the Geiger counter suddenly beeped once “hold up,” stepping back—and nearly tripping over Winn—she waved the probe over two lockers, it beeped again, twice in rapid succession. Holding it over one locker earned a long string of beeps.

Lucy frowned at the name on the locker “McGill?” she read…

******

“So, who’s McGill?” Winn whispered as he tried to peer past Lucy’s shoulder as she peered around the corner

“He was one of the agents who was part of the team transferring the kryptonite to Nevada” Lucy explained

“I thought everybody on that team came up clean?” Winn wondered

“He must’ve found a way to beat a polygraph and J’onn’s mind scan” Lucy reasoned

“Well, hang on, he was transferring it, right?” Winn began “so, how do we know that he didn’t just pick up the radiation that way?”

Lucy shook her head “Kryptonite is stored and transported in lead-line cases, just any other radioactive substance. So, unless he opened the case to show it off…” she trailed off

“Right,” Winn nodded. He leaned forward and peered past her “so, what are we going to do?” he whispered

Lucy nodded to herself as she made a plan. In hindsight a very stupid plan, but it was a plan “Wait here,” she instructed, using her ‘Major voice’ on Winn to make sure he stayed where he was supposed to as she marched over to McGill “agent McGill”

He turned “Deputy Director” he nodded politely as she approached

“The Director wants us to move some of our kryptonite ammunition to Nevada ASAP. I want you to handle it personally” she ordered

“Ma’am?” McGill questioned, he clearly was wondering why Astra would want to move kryptonite now, and especially since the DEO knew that Cadmus had mostly likely been behind the theft. Mentally squaring her shoulders, Lucy added the incentive to get him moving

“You heard me,” she ordered “unless…you’d like to take it up with the Director personally?” she offered, knowing full well that anyone who dared to question Astra’s orders was usually an idiot. As expected, McGill straightened his spine

“No, ma’am, of course not. I’ll get right on that, Deputy-Director” he nodded. As he moved off, Lucy looked over at Winn and gave him a thumbs up. He, in turn, pointed up at Astra’s office and then at her and himself before drawing a finger across his throat, the message clear

We’re dead meat once Astra finds out…

******

Lucy hadn’t wanted Winn to come, in fact she told him to stay behind. But he made a fuss about being left behind to face Astra and her father’s wrath alone, adding that he didn’t want to see her die either. So, she crammed in him into an old beater requisitioned from the DEO motor pool and following McGill as he got onto the highway, traveling towards the old port

“There, left” Winn pointed

“I have eyes, Winn, I saw,” Lucy grumbled as she pulled the beater in behind a stack of wooden pallets, while McGill quickly unloaded the truck, the pallet loaded with lead-sealed kryptonite hitting the ground with a deep, echoing _thud_ before he loaded it onto the dolly and wheeled into an abandoned warehouse nearby.

Lucy checked her gun before unhooking her seatbelt “Stay here” she instructed

“No argument from me” Winn added as she slipped out of the car and crouched behind a pair of oil drums. She scowled as she heard the car door open again and Winn scurry across the gravel over to her side

“Didn’t you hear me say ‘stay in the car’?” she asked

“I’m not the redshirt” he answered. Lucy rolled her eyes

“Fine” she sighed “but you stay down, got it?"

“Got it”

“Here,” she un-holstered her backup gun and held it out to him. Visibly grimacing, he took it and tucked it into his waistband, pulling his shirt over it “try not to shoot yourself with that,” she added “let’s go”

Entering the warehouse, they found McGill just finishing unloading the pallet of crates from the dolly

“McGill, freeze!” Lucy ordered. He froze “turn around, nice and easy,” he did as instructed “take out your sidearm and kick it over here,” she ordered, looking pale, McGill did that as well, kicking his sidearm across the room towards them “good. Now, you’re going to tell me everything that you know about Cadmus”

McGill sighed “No,” he said simply “I’m not” a gunshot suddenly rang out, McGill’s head suddenly snapping back violently in a spray of red

“LUC—”

Lucy turned at Winn’s strangled shout, grunting as her legs were swept out from under her. Grunting, she rolled up into a sitting position just in time to see two heavy-looking men looming over her, one held her fallen gun, the other held Winn in a chokehold. Seeing that she wasn’t planning on trying to fight her way out of this, the goon holding Winn released him, tossing him towards her, where he fell to the floor, coughing and wheezing for breath.

“You all right?” Lucy asked, keeping her gaze on the goons

“Sure,” Winn coughed out “never better”

The sharp click of high-heels drew their attention, and as they watched a woman calmly came up to them, stepping between the two goons to study them. She was older than them, her dark blonde hair was tied back behind her head in a tight knot, and her bright blue eyes were cold and dead, calculating, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, determining whether she should keep them alive or just have them killed

“Lucy Lane and Winn Schott Jr. of the DEO,” she finally spoke “how nice to finally make your acquaintance”

“Wish we could say the same,” Lucy countered “where is Jeremiah Danvers?”

The woman chuckled “Oh, come now, you don’t seriously expect me to answer that, now do you Major?” she smiled “unless, of course, you’d both be willing to join our cause? Cadmus is always looking for bright minds eager to help defend our planet”

“You’re insane, lady” Winn spat. One goon moved forward, but the woman calmly touched his arm and he stopped, stepping back

“You know what I see when I look at you both, Mr. Schott?” the woman asked “I see two brilliant young people who’ve been brainwashed by the DEO, who’ve been raised on lies and deception, who’ve been told that these aliens are our ‘friends’, to the point that they’re both willing to turn their backs on their own families all for the sake of a pair of aliens in capes”

Winn smirked “I guess you’ve never met my father,” he remarked. With a grunt, he suddenly swung back a leg, firmly kicking the goon who’d held him in a chokehold in the knee. The man let an agonized _shriek_ as he knee suddenly bent sideways. Turning, the other goon didn’t have time to react as Lucy kicked his legs out from under him, grabbing Winn’s arm and hauling him down a row of empty shelves

“I’m not the redshirt!” he panted out as they sprinted down the corridor, gunfire suddenly erupting behind them

“You will be if you don’t _move it!!_ ” Lucy panted out as one of the goons suddenly appeared in front of them “wrong way!” Lucy gasped out, turning only to freeze as the other goon closed in from other end of the corridor. Both goons had their guns drawn, fingers tightening on the trigger.

Just as the two gunshots pierced the air the ceiling suddenly exploded in, two figures suddenly landing on either side of Winn and Lucy, both of them easily catching the bullets with ease. Goon one tried to run, but a strong arm grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hurled him across the warehouse, while the other goon was disabled with a blast of freeze breath.

Lucy and Winn both started breathing again as Kara hurried over to them

“Are guys OK?” she asked frantically

“We’re good” Lucy panted out

“Speak for yourself,” Winn groaned, he gave Kara a smile “yeah, we’re good” he confirmed

“That’s good to hear,” Astra began as she approached them “because I’d hate to have to fire a pair of corpses…”

******

“…what you both did was blatant insubordination!” Astra continued her lengthy, public chewing out of Winn and Lucy “I may grant you both some leeway due to your friendship with my niece but that does _not_ give you the right to disobey protocol! You both pull another stunt like that again and you two are going to be utterly—”

“Dead?” Winn croaked out uncertainly

Astra scowled “ _Fir-ed!_ ” she snarled “once this crisis is over you are both on desk duty for the foreseeable future. Do I make myself clear, _Agents_?"

“Yes, ma’am” Lucy replied

“Good,” Astra nodded stiffly “now get the hell out of my sight!” both cringing—Winn more so than Lucy—they quickly scurried past her and back to the lab. Groaning, Astra ran a tired hand through her hair “agent Vasquez?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Any sign of our green man?”

“No, ma’am”

“Damn it” Astra was about to tell Susan to continue the search when Alex marched in

“You need to see this” she said, pulling up a newsfeed

“ _…once again, for those of you just tuning in. An unidentified man has just launched an terrorist attack on Metropolis’ Krypton Park. His identity remains unknown at this time, but security camera footage shows that he was armed with some type of energy weapon…_ ”

Alex shut off the feed and turned to Astra “I used our satellites to analyze the energy signature,” she explained “its kryptonite”

“What?” Astra hissed

“And the security camera footage of the attacker does _not_ match John Corbin’s profile” Alex added as Astra stared at the screens in horror

“Wha, wait, what does that mean?” Kara asked as she and Superman looked at each in growing concern

“It means that there’s more than one,” Astra began “they’ve created a _second_ Metallo” she hissed

“I need to go,” Superman said “see what can I do to help”

“Wait a minute,” Kara held out a hand “wait…what if that’s it?”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked

“Why create a second Metallo?” Kara began “we’re both here in National City,” she gestured between herself and Superman “so, why bother attacking Metropolis if you were trying to kill us?”

Alex and Astra turned to look at each other, the same thought on their lips

“Divide and conquer” they both exclaimed

“Right,” Kara nodded “exactly. They _want_ us to be apart, they _want_ us to fight amongst ourselves,” she looked at Astra “to hurt each other. Anything _but_ fighting against _them_ ”

“She’s right,” Astra nodded “this is bigger than all us,” she turned to Superman and held out a hand “truce?” she offered

“Truce” he replied, easily taking her hand and shaking it

“All right, people,” Astra began “starting now, we stand united, strength in numbers,” she gave them all a hard look to drive the point home "let's get started..."


	11. Never Surrender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter ELEVEN! Enjoy! :=)

******

**_“…we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender”_ **

\--Winston Churchill

******

“All right,” Winn sighed as the others gathered around the lab bench a little under an hour later “now, this is a bit of a rush job, but…what do you think?” he asked, gesturing to the three anti-kryptontie devices now hanging from a rack over the lab bench

“Nicely done” Astra commented

“Not you!” Winn hissed, he turned to Superman, who examined the three anti-kryptonite devices, before smiling

“Looks great, I love it” he commented

“Winn,” Kara began, frowning at him “are you….crying?”

“What? No,” Winn wiped at his eyes “I just…got something in my eye, that’s all”

“Yeah, it’s called a ‘tear’,” Lucy chuckled. She shared a worried glance with Alex “are we sure this is going to work?” she wondered

“No other choice, agent Lane,” Astra explained “we either win today, or we don’t”

“Well, that’s a cheery thought” Winn muttered as he hooked the first of the harness-like devices onto Kara’s torso

“Just being honest, Winn,” Astra explained “all right, everyone clear on the plan?” she asked, the others nodded “good…let’s get to it”

“What about you?” Kara asked, nodding to the third harness, which still hung on the rack

“Don’t worry,” Astra smiled “I’ll be around…”

******

Krypton Park was deserted as Superman landed in the relative center of the park. Broken, shattered pieces of concrete littered the area, the pavement cracked, while the smell of burning ozone still lingered in the air. Taking a breath, Clark straightened his spine as the second Metallo stepped out from behind a half-demolished wall, his shirt torn and burned, the kryptonite heart still glowing faintly as he threw out his hands, firing a blast directly at Clark…

******

At that same moment, John Corbin found himself staring down Kara as she landed in front of him

“Back for more I see” he rasped

“Told you I’d be back” Kara grinned. A loud crash made them both turn, Corbin gasped as midsized sedan suddenly came flying off the top of a nearby parking garage to slam into to him, sending her careening down the pavement…

******

Meanwhile, Clark tensed as the blast hit the harness around his chest, fizzling out as soon as it touched the transparent Crest of El-shaped chest piece. Smirking, Clark took a breath as Metallo reared back in surprise

“Oh, I like this,” Clark chuckled “thank you, Winn”

Metallo scowled and suddenly lunged, slamming a fist into Clark’s gut with a surprising amount of speed and strength, hurtling Clark back several feet…

******

Kara grunted as Corbin grabbed her arm and flung her into a nearby building. Jerking up, she checked the kryptonite inhibitor, still working so far

“Where’s the boy scout?” Corbin demanded

“What boy scout?” Kara deadpanned “oh! You mean Superman,” she grinned “he’s not here. In fact, he’s back in Metropolis”

Corbin frowned, confused, before something suddenly slammed into him, sending him hurtling through a wall. Getting to her feet, Kara grinned as Astra marched forward…

******

Clark grunted as Metallo pinned him against a wall, ripping the kryptonite inhibitor off him as he did. Swinging back an arm, Clark tried to throw him off, only to receive a blast directly to the chest. Choking and gasping for breath, Clark staggered, trying not to retch as a little girl suddenly came sprinting out from behind some of the rubble.

No older than say ten or eleven and dressed in one of those silly little Superman t-shirts, she sprinted towards Metallo with a surprising amount of speed. Metallo turned to Clark, sneering

“Too bad you can’t save her” he hissed

Clark grinned “Maybe I won’t have to” he countered. Turning, Metallo grunted in surprise as a fiery, crackling haze of red-orange energy suddenly surrounded the girl, her body changing size and shape

“ ** _Strength in numbers!_** ” J’onn J’onzz roared as he slammed into Metallo, grabbing him by one arm and flinging him high into the air. Turing back to Clark, J’onn held out a hand, pulling him to his feet

“Thanks” Clark panted out. J’onn grinned at him

“ ** _Let’s finish this!_** ” he hissed…

******

John Corbin grunted as he was thrown through yet another wall, a shower of dust a rubble trailing behind him as Kara and Astra marched forward. Staggering to his feet, Corbin swung out an arm, his fist suddenly smashing into Kara’s chest piece, cracking it. With a grunt, Corbin ripped it off her and swung out his arm towards Astra, catching her in the head and sending her catapulting through a wall.

Sitting up, Astra checked her own inhibitor

“Damn it” it was shattered, twisted and mangled beyond repair…

******

“What do you mean ‘all three inhibitors are off-line’?” Alex demanded

“They’re dead,” Winn exclaimed “look, they’re very delicate, they can’t survive this level of, you know, ‘super-ness’.” he exclaimed

“But now they’re all vulnerable!” Alex exclaimed. Snarling in frustration, she turned and began to sprint out of the room

“Alex! What are you doing?!” Lucy called out after her

“Something stupid!” she called back over her shoulder…

******

Clark grunted as Metallo hurled J’onn away, before turning to face him, pinning him against a wall and viciously pummeling him, the kryptonite radiation making Clark as weak a kitten. Struggling to stay on his feet, Clark looked around for J’onn, only to rear back as J’onn’s hand suddenly emerged from Metallo’s chest, the kryptonite clutched tightly in his fist as he phased back through Metallo’s body, tossing the kryptonite away as Metallo slumped to the ground

“ ** _Are you all right?_** ” the Martian asked

“I’ve been better,” Clark panted out “Alex? We’ve got the second Metallo. How are things on your end?

“ _Not too good,_ ” Alex replied “ _but help’s on the way…_ ”

******

Astra grunted as she and Kara were pitched back down an alleyway by Corbin. They both grunted as he suddenly leapt at them, one hand around each of their throats, his kryptonite heat glowing brightly as he prepared to fire off another blast

“ _Astra! Hold on!_ ” Alex called out over the comm. “ _help’s on the way_ ”

Corbin grunted as someone suddenly grabbed him from behind and threw him off the two women

“What the…!” Kara stared as Non calmly stood before them, his kryptonite inhibitor firmly pinned to his chest, as he offered a hand

“I bring a message from Alexandra Danvers” he explained as they both climbed to their feet

“What is it?” Astra demanded

Non smirked “ _’Kick his ass’_ ”

Astra smirked “Well, then, let’s not leave the lady wanting, shall we?” she drawled as Corbin staggered to his feet. Astra glanced between Kara and Non as they both flanked her, Kara on her right, Non on her left. She smirked “let’s finish this!” she hissed as the unlikely trio suddenly charged into Corbin, Kara sweeping his legs out from under him, while Astra pinned his shoulders to the ground

“Non! NOW!” Kara bellowed. With a grunt, Non suddenly leapt into the air, stabbing a piece of broken pipe down directly at Corbin’s chest, piercing the kryptonite and impaling him. Grunting and gurgling, Corbin twitched as a silvery blood-like substance dribbled out of the corner of his mouth, his eyes weirdly flickering, even as he tried to get back up, the pipe effectively pinning him in place. With a grunt, Astra grabbed the back of his head and yanked his head up, glowering into his eyes

“Can you hear me?” she hissed “can you see me? I hope you can; Churchill said it best I think. ‘ _They had to chose between dishonor and war. They chose dishonor. They will have war’_. Enjoy your brief victory, because you only get this one. I will find you and I will _end_ you!”

With a grunt, she suddenly wrenched Corbin’s head violently to the side, breaking his neck, killing him…

******

**_”Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have know better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph”_ **

\--Haile Selassie I

******

“ _What was the point of this, Director?_ ” the American UN ambassador asked as he and other four members of the UN Security Council glowered at Astra and General Lane over a video call

“I’m afraid that you’ll have to more specific, Ambassador” Astra replied

“ _You killed John Corbin and his coconspirator rather taking them into custody. How do you that these men were not simply rogue elements?_ ”

“ _How do you know that Cadmus is as serious a threat as you claim?_ ” the British ambassador asked “ _aside from the recent events in Metropolis, they’ve made no threats towards Humans, only aliens. What makes you think that the rest of us are in any danger_ ”

“Ambassador,” General Lane spoke up “if anything, the events in Metropolis have proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Cadmus is willing to do whatever it takes and kill whoever stands in their way”

“ _But how do you_ know _that Cadmus was behind Corbin’s transformation? That they were behind the theft of the kryptonite?_ ” the American ambassador pushed

“I would think that would be fairly obvious, Ambassador,” Astra replied “even to you,” she smirked “you say that Cadmus is only interested in combating aliens, well, how do you know that they will _stop_ once all aliens on Earth are gone?” she challenged “who’s to say that they won’t try to ‘remove’ people who they consider to be ‘sympathizers’?”

“ _How do you know that they won’t?_ ” the American ambassador challenged

Astra smirked “On July 30th 1936, the Ethiopian emperor, Halie Selassie I went before the League of Nations—the immediate predecessor to your own organization, I might add—he made an impassioned speech protesting Fascist Italy’s invasion of his country. His speech and pleas fell on deaf ears. But, he ended his speech with a simple, rather prophetic declaration: _’It is us today, it is you tomorrow’_ ,” she smirked “he also once said: _’throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have know better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph’,_ ” she watched as the ambassadors fell silent, slowly digesting her words with palpable unease “just some food for thought ladies and gentlemen” she added as she ended the call, the screen going blank…


	12. Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love transcends all. End of AU of "The Last Children of Krypton"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWELVE! Enjoy! :=)

******

Alex let out a breath as the door to Non’s cell swung shut and locked

“Thank you,” she found herself suddenly saying “for saving them”

“I pledged myself to the House of In-Ze,” he replied “it is my duty”

“Well…thanks anyway” Alex mumbled. Non tilted his head at her, studying her she realized

“You love her” he stated

“I do” she admitted

“Astra is a remarkable woman” he commented

“Yes she is” Alex agreed…

******

Emerging from Non’s cell into Command, Alex found Kara and Clark happily chatting

“Alex, hey! We’re just talking about you” Kara grinned

“All good I hope?” she teased

“You know, releasing Non back there was a very risky move,” Clark commented “glad to see it all worked out for all of us”

“You’re not the only one, Superman” Astra agreed as she came round the corner, a heavy case in one hand

“What is that?” Kara asked as Astra set the case down on the operations table and slid it towards Superman, the words ‘CLASS A RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS CAUTION HANDLE WITH CARE’ stamped on it in bright red letters along with the radiation warning symbol

“That,” Astra began “is the bowling ball”

“The what?” Kara asked

“It’s the original kryptonite meteorite we found down in South America,” Susan picked up as she came over “the Director would you like to have it as a gesture of goodwill, Superman”

“Firmly sealed in lead. I trust you’ll know what to do with it” Astra added

Clark smirked “It’s a start,” he acknowledged “what about Hank Henshaw?” he wondered

“See for yourself,” Astra gestured to where Hank Henshaw was being led into the room in chains, escorted by four of Lane’s men “he’s being transferred to General Lane’s custody,” Astra explained “the President insisted, she didn’t like the idea of Henshaw—regardless of his crimes—being held without the right to legal counsel. He’s a murdering paranoid sociopath, but he still has rights unfortunately”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Alex grumbled “excuse me,” she nodded politely at Astra as she marched over to Henshaw and his escort “hold up” she called out

Hank sneered at her “What do you want, Danvers?” he spat “want to hear how sorry I am that killed that bleeding heart father of yours?”

Alex shook her head “No. Just this,” she suddenly drew back her fist and soundly punched him the face, the sound of his nose breaking was music to her ears “that was for my father” she spat as Henshaw growled and thrashed in his chains, but couldn’t reach her as the guards swiftly pulled him back

“What’s going on here?” General Lane demanded as he came over

“She assaulted me!” Henshaw roared, glowering at Alex. Lane carefully looked between Alex and Hank

“Is this true, Agent Danvers?” he asked, Alex nodded harshly

“Yes sir”

“Really?” Lane asked “because I could have _sworn_ that I just saw you try to escape and she stopped you”

“What?!” Henshaw roared, thrashing in his chains harder “you’re one of them! You’re all alike! These aliens aren’t our friends! They aren’t even our enemies! They’re just _things!!!!_ ”

“Get him out of here!” Lane ordered. Visibly struggling, the guards dragged a still-protesting Henshaw away

“What’s going to happen to him?” Alex wondered

“If we’re very lucky, he’ll spend the rest of his life in a metal _box_ ,” Lane replied, he turned and gave her a fatherly smile “am I sorry about your father, Ms. Danvers, I can only hope and pray that you’ll get him back safely”

“Thank you, General” she replied, shaking his hand

“Trying to escape, eh?” Astra asked as she and the others came over to Alex “hmm, well, its better than what I would have said, I would have said that Hank ran into a door”

Alex snorted “Would you really have said that?”

“Probably” Astra chuckled

“Well,” Clark began “I should be getting back,” he smiled as he shook hands with Lucy “I’ll tell Lois you said ‘hi’.”

“Please do,” Lucy requested “otherwise she’ll never let me hear the end of it”

“I will,” Clark chuckled as he turned to Winn “Winn, glad to have you on our side”

“Thanks” Winn nodded shakily before suddenly surging forward and actually _hugging_ the Man of Steel

“Oh god!” Lucy groaned, faceplaming

“And you’re… _dating_ him” General Lane stated

“Let it go, Dad” Lucy sighed as she came over and awkwardly unhooked Winn from his idol

“Sorry” Winn mumbled, staring at his shoes

“No, its fine” Clark dismissed, looking as uncomfortable as Winn did. Clearing his throat he turned to Kara and grinned at her “what is it they said on Krypton? _Kaoshuh?_ ”

“ _Kaoshuh_ ” Kara nodded

“What does that mean?” Lucy asked

“There’s no real direct translation into English,” Astra began “but, a close translation would be…’to be continued’.”

“To be continued” Clark nodded. With a sudden grin, he grabbed the handle of the case containing the kryptonite meteorite and suddenly took off in a gust of wind

“Showoff” Astra muttered…

******

Entering her apartment, Alex sighed as she spotted Astra laying on the couch, seemingly asleep. Quietly setting her keys and phone and other items down, she tiptoed over to the couch and laid down, curling up against Astra

“I didn’t I’d be welcome here any longer” Astra murmured as she reached up and stroked Alex’s hair

“You live here now you dummy,” Alex snorted “remember? Your month long stay at the DEO? Your lease expired?”

“Hmm,” Astra chuckled, she wriggled and sat up, gently easing out from under Alex to hold out a hand “cone with me?” she requested. Smirking, Alex took her hand and allowed herself to led to the window and out onto the fire escape, unflinching as Astra wrapped an arm around her waist and gently lifted off the ground, slowly rising until they were both floating high above the city

“What do you hear?” Astra asked quietly

Alex puzzled over the question “I hear…the city,” she shrugged “what do you hear?” she asked, sensing that there was something deeper to this little flight

“Everything,” Astra whispered and Alex could see tears in her eyes “I can hear a couple one block down from your apartment having an argument, the husband cheated on her for the fifth time. I can hear a baby crying four blocks down. I can hear all of them, every cry for help, every cry of despair, every sad and broken sound. I always hear them,” she shook her head “that’s why I didn’t tell you and Kara about Henshaw,” she explained “because I didn’t want to hear your cries”

“Oh, Astra,” Alex sighed, reaching up to brush those tears away “I don’t hate you for that. I’m…upset, sure, angry, yes. But, I don’t hate you. I could _never_ hate you, how could I? I love you, and I always will, no matter what you’ve done or will do. You try to help people, to protect them from harm. No one can hate you for that”

Astra pulled her close, ice-cold tears dropping into her hair

“ _…thank you, love_ ” Astra whispered…


	13. Huddled Masses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Earth welcomes you. AU of "Welcome to Earth"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back!!! Yes, "Strange Visitations" is finally being updated, please enjoy :=)

******

“ _ **Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp besides the golden-door!**_ ”

\--Emma Lazarus, _The New Colossus_ , inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty

******

Alarms screamed as Alex sprinted down the corridor, slinging the RPG up and over her shoulder

“Stop!” she bellowed as she took aim at the fleeing prisoner, feeling the weapon hum in her hands as the prisoner sent several agents flying like rag dolls as he staggered through Command in what was clearly a blind panic, he wanted out and he wanted out _now_

“Stop or I’ll shoot!” Alex added as the prisoner neared the balcony where Kara flew in everyday

Sparing a glance back over his shoulder, the prisoner apparently decided to take his chances with gravity and leapt over the edge of the balcony. Sprinting forward Alex scowled as she looked over the edge

“Damn it!” she hissed

“What happened? Did we lose him?” Kara asked as she hurried over

“We lost him” Alex sighed…

******

“ _…in our continuing coverage, the Democratic majority voted unanimously to uphold the Alien Amnesty Act into law. Once singed into law by President Marsden, the Act will grant all extraterrestrials living in the United States legal protection from persecution from their planet of origin. It will also allow non-human aliens to apply for, and gain, U.S. citizenship, and the benefits therein. The Act was first proposed by President Marsden during her inauguration speech and, once passed, would be the first legislation of its kind, the only other similar legislation passed by any national government is the United Kingdom’s ‘Non-Human Residency Act of 1999’, which allows extraterrestrials the right to petition for UK citizenship, but does not grant them immunity from persecution from their home planets. The United Nations General Assembly has already voted to uphold the ‘sprit of the Alien Amnesty Act’ in international law once it passes, possibly meaning an addendum to the Declaration of Human Rights…_ ”

The news report continued as Astra surveyed the damage to Command, most of which was largely superficial and cosmetic

“Report” she demanded as Alex and Kara approached

“Prisoner’s gone, Winn’s trying to reactivate his medical bracelet so we can track him” Alex reported

“Is there any chance he had help in escaping?” Astra wondered

Alex shook her head

“No. J’onn did a scan of the entire medical staff, looks like our guy just got lucky, he saw an opening and took it” she explained

Astra sighed

“Still, this is the last thing we need today, especially with the President’s upcoming visit tomorrow to sign the Alien Amnesty Act into law,” she grumbled “which I still think is a bad idea” she added

“ ‘Bad idea’?” Kara echoed “Aunt Astra, aliens will finally be able to come out of the shadows and be who they really are without worrying about people like Hank Henshaw killing them” she exclaimed

“Or, we could have a whole riot of alien criminals who could use the Act to seek shelter from justice,” Astra pointed out “not to mention allowing anti-alien groups like Cadmus free reign to openly attack aliens in public view”

“I have to agree,” Alex grimaced “I can count the number of good aliens I know one hand and still have six fingers left over”

“Likewise,” Susan nodded “there are creatures out there who couldn’t even _begin_ to comprehend what we’re offering, who would use it to commit unspeakable atrocities”

“You guys!” Kara rolled her eyes “come on! This is good thing! This is history in the making!!”

“Then you can be sure to tell the President that tomorrow when you meet her” Astra explained

“Wait,” Kara stared between them “the President’s coming…here?”

“She wants to meet National City’s own alien hero personally,” Astra explained “as well as the DEO’s two aliens”

“She’s coming _here_?” Kara repeated “the President is coming _here_? To the DEO?”

“Is she having a stroke?” Susan wondered

“I’m…going to meet…the President?” Kara asked slowly

“If you’re not up to it, I can send someone else” Astra offered

“No, no!” Kara frantically shook her head, grinning “no, I’m good, I’m good,” she frowned and fingered her hair “do you guys think I should get a blowout?” she wondered

“Oh dear god” Astra groaned…


	14. United Nations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! :=)

******

National City International Airport was jammed packed with people as Air Force One touched down on the runway. Already, Alex could see dozens of President Marsden’s supports—many of whom appeared to be recent immigrates themselves—gathered in a widespread, enthusiastic clump, many held homemade signs and banners voicing support for the Act.

Others however, clustered in a tighter group, booed and held signs denouncing the Act.

Alex grimaced as she thought back to Senator Crane’s visit last year; the amount of people who had been at that rally to support her had been mind-boggling. This time it seemed to be reversed, the number of supports outweighed the detractors.

Alex herself was the grandchild of immigrants, Jeremiah’s parents had come from Europe during the Second World War, fleeing the Nazis, so the issue of immigration had always been at the forefront of her mind growing up. She supported immigrant rights, she supported a person’s right to leave their home and seek out a better life elsewhere.

“ _Look alive, Danvers_ ” an agent called over her comm., breaking her out of her thoughts as she straightened up and resumed her hunt through the crowd for anything out of the ordinary as _Hail to the Chief_ began playing as the doors to Air Force One opened, President Olivia Marsden stepping out with a cheerful wave to raucous cheers.

Looking around the crowds as the President descended the stairs, Alex could see James in one corner, snapping photographs, Kara meanwhile stood front and center in her suit, looking to most proud and unconcerned, but Alex could see that she was actually stiff as a board with nerves.

Further back, J’onn was somewhere in the crowd, doing telepathic scans to ensure no one snuck past security. Alex couldn’t see the Martian, and knew that with his powers she probably never would, he could be anybody after all.

With a sharp whistle, a stream of fire suddenly lashed out from the crowd, striking one of the President’s bodyguards, incinerating him instantly.

“All agents! Move in!” Alex ordered as the remaining two bodyguards hurried to usher the President to the waiting limousine

“ _Does anyone have eyes on the assailant?_ ” Astra demanded over the comm. as Alex fought her way through the panicking crowds as NCPD and FBI agents attempted to get them to safety

“Negative,” Alex replied as other agents reported the same “Supergirl? Can you see them?” Alex demanded

“ _I can’t see where its coming from_ ” Kara reported. Looking up as another blast suddenly streaked across the sky, Alex watched as it hit the familiar blue figure now floating high above the tarmac

“Kara?!” Alex demanded in horror as she watched Kara tumble and spin the air

“ _I’m OK!_ ” Kara reported

Alex turned back to the President, watching as another blast took out the second of the President’s bodyguards. The third and last remaining one managed to get the door of the limousine open just before he was struck down too, his burning body breaking apart as it fell to the ground. Now alone and exposed, the President turned to face the threat, her spine visibly straightening

Kara suddenly swooped down, landing in front of the woman, throwing out her cape and deflecting the next blast. A sudden silence reigned as the blasts suddenly stopped.

“ _Agent Danvers, report_ ” Astra demanded

“The President’s safe,” Alex panted out “whoever it was, they’ve stopped. For now…”

******

“So, where’s the President now?” Alex wondered as she and Kara approached the crime scene

“Lucy came by and took her back to the DEO” Kara explained

“So…,” Alex began “what’d you think?”

“OhMyGod! Alex! She’s _so_ nice!” Kara gushed “she said ‘thank you’ and, and, and called me ‘Supergirl’.”

“So?” Alex snorted “that’s what you’re called”

“Yeah, but this was different, you know?” Kara beamed. She threw back her head, nose high in the air “ ‘Supergirl’, you know?”

Alex didn’t, and instead nodded to the scorched red carpet where Susan and a bunch of DEO agents were analyzing the evidence

“The radiation signature’s consistent with heat vision,” Susan announced, looking up from the Geiger counter “which means it was either an Infrinian or a Kryptonian”

“You think it could do with the guy that escaped last night?” Kara wondered

“Could be,” Alex shrugged “we picked him up beating up an entire biker gang, so he’s got anger issues at the very least”

“Uh,” Kara tapped her on the shoulder and leaned in “should he be putting the carpet in the same bag as the body parts?” she nodded to where Agent Michaels was bagging evidence

“No!” Alex scowled and marched over to give him an epic chewing out…

******

“General Lane, Senator Crane,” Astra shook hands with the two U.S. government officials “welcome back to the DEO”

“Thank you, Director,” General Lane nodded “I’m sorry we keep meeting in such unfortunate circumstances”

“Where is the President now?” Senator Miranda Crane interrupted

“She’s being given a tour of the facility by Deputy Director Lane and Supergirl” Astra explained

“And how do you know that she isn’t danger with them?” Senator Crane challenged

“Madam Senator,” General Lane began “are you implying that my daughter is somehow an alien hostile?” he looked affronted at the very implication

Senator Crane merely sniffed somewhat haughtily

“Nothing of the sort, General,” she dismissed “but, as the Director herself proved, not all aliens need to be shapeshifters to pass for Human. Sometimes all they need is someone who feels sorry for them”

With that parting shot she quietly excused herself

“I think I liked her better when she was being impersonated by a White Martian” Astra grumbled

General Lane smirked

“Regardless,” he began “the Senator does have a point, this assassin could be anyone. We need to find them and find them fast”

Astra smirked, chuckling

“I say something amusing, Director?” Lane questioned

“Very,” Astra chuckled “I seem to remember that you once told me that your Special Forces could handle the DEO’s operations just as effectively and without—how did you put it? Oh yes—‘ _foreign assistance_ ’,” she smirked “which is why I was surprised when you supported my initiative to give command of the DEO to the United Nations”

“Myriad was a wake up call for all us,” he began “the fact that an entire city could be rendered defenseless in an instant was not only terrifying but a revelation,” he explained “we were no longer facing a rag-tag assortment of aliens with no leadership, but a unified force, a threat far bigger than one man, or indeed, one nation. If we’re to face them and have any hope of surviving, much less defeating them, we need a united front, to face them as one”

Astra nodded, smiling

“Well spoken, General,” she praised “well spoken, indeed,” she huffed out a breath “now, if we could just convince the rest of the planet of that” she muttered…


	15. Cultural Pluralism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short triple update! :=)

******

“I’m curious, now that most of the world knows your true identity, why still pretend to be Human?”

Susan smiled at the question

“Its been my experience, Madam President, that most Humans are more comfortable with someone who looks like them,” she explained “I say that both as an alien and as someone who’s lived as a Hispanic woman for the past fifteen years”

“But you have comrades here who clearly don’t object to your status as an alien” President Marsden pointed out

“Most of those people only know I’m an alien in the abstract, Madam,” Susan explained “many of them have never seen my true form”

“May I?” the President probed

Susan smirked

“As you wish” she nodded, relaxing as he shed the Human guise. To J’onn’s pleasure, Olivia Marsden merely smiled upon seeing his true form

“Impressive,” she remarked “truly remarkable”

J’onn inclined his head respectfully in response as he shifted back into Susan Vasquez

“Superman once called me _‘the most powerful being on the face of this Earth’_ ,” she shrugged “guess that’s supposed to mean something significant”

President Marsden smiled

“Superman trusted you to watch over Astra In-Ze and Jeremiah Danvers, did he not?” she pointed out “that implies a large amount of trust”

Susan smirked

“Trust is what I wished to discuss with you, Madam”

“Ah,” President Marsden “the amnesty act. I take it you’re not a fan?”

Susan sighed

“It sounds rather hypocritical, but there are aliens out there—evil creatures—that couldn’t possibly begin to comprehend the significance of what you’re offering them. Creatures who would sooner abuse the very rights you plan to give them”

“Perhaps,” the President acknowledged “but by offering a hand in friendship first, we may be better able to overcome such difficulties than if we upheld the status quo”

“Even if that hand gets bitten off?” Astra wondered as she came over

President Marsden smirked, silently dismissing her bodyguards with a subtle wave

“Its not enough that you protect the world, Astra, but that you _live_ in it too,” she reminded her. She smirked "think about it" she suggested...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Cultural Pluralism" is the idea that immigrants maintain their own cultures while living in another country--such as the United States--and not be forced to adapt or otherwise assimilate to the culture of the nation they're currently living in, while at the same time, their cultures are accepted and tolerated by the larger group. Its often confused with 'multiculturalism', which is a different kettle of fish


	16. Blood Feuds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SIXTEEN! Enjoy! :=)

******

Winn crunched on some chips as he watched the satellite data scroll by. Leaning back in his chair with a tired groan, he glanced over at Lucy, who smirked at him and then tapped her earpiece, holding up two fingers. Frowning, Winn nodded, switching his comm. to channel two

“ _What’s your opinion of the Amnesty Act?_ ” she asked as soon as the channel cleared

“I donno,” Winn shrugged “I suppose it’s a good idea. Politics aren’t really my thing”

“ _But you’re not sure?_ ” Lucy pressed

Winn shrugged again

“I don’t know,” he moaned “like I said: politics aren’t my thing”

“ _Knock it off you guys_ ” Susan’s voice suddenly cut in. Looking up at her, she nodded as Astra and President Marsden entered Command

******

“We’re looking for your attacker closely, Madam President” Astra promised as she led the President into Command

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” the President dismissed “I can take care of myself. Actually, I want to know about you, Director”

Astra frowned

“Me?” she echoed, confused

The President nodded

“Yes, you, Director. You were forced to hide your true identity for years, decades even, and when you finally revealed your true identity you were arrested, accused of a crime you didn’t commit, and dozens of other baseless allegations”

“Don’t forget nearly dissected for study” Astra interjected

The President smirked humorlessly

“Once the Act passes, Cadmus will be classified as a terrorist organization” she promised

“Uh, guys?” Winn suddenly called “somebody? Just got a pan-orbital transmission coming from the Mount Pride Observatory,” he announced “I think its our missing patient!”

“Destination?” Astra demeaned as she marched

“Uh…it’s heading for the…Corvus constellation, a star called…LHS 2520” Winn reported

Astra froze

“Are you…sure?” she asked slowly

“Yeah, why?”

“Because,” Astra swallowed “that’s Krypton’s star system”

“Our escaped prisoner’s…Kryptonian?” Lucy asked

“Wait!” Winn’s fingers flew over the keys “uh, I don’t think he’s calling Krypton. According to these _very cool_ DEO star charts, the signal’s going to another planet orbiting the same star. Dac, Daxam?”

“Daxam,” Astra hissed “he’s a _Daxamite!_ ” she turned to Lucy “call Supergirl. Agent Vasquez? We’ll need some Martian manpower on site,” she ordered, already heading for the entrance “let’s move people!” she barked…

******

Kara joined Astra and J’onn midway to the Observatory. Entering the dome, the trio found the same escaped prisoner at the controls of the main radio telescope. Turning as they entered, he scowled, smirking triumphantly at them

“You’re too late” he hissed

“No,” Astra shook her head “you are,” with a roar, she charged, slamming into the Daxamite and pitching him across the room to collide with a bank of computer equipment with a thunderous crash and a shower of sparks.

Cautiously approaching, Astra held up a hand, silently signaling Susan and Kara to stop

“Clear!” she announced as the Daxamite suddenly slumped over unconscious to collapse to the floor in a crumpled heap…

******

“So, why didn’t you ever tell me about Daxam?” Alex asked as she, Kara, and Astra all watched the still-as-yet unnamed Daxamite lounge in his cell

“Did the Hatfield’s ever mention the McCoy’s?” Kara scoffed

“O...K, I’m going to guess that there was some bad blood between you two” Alex blinked

“Daxam was our sister planet,” Astra began “similar environment, capable of supporting life, it became our first interplanetary colony when we achieved space travel”

“But..?” Alex probed

Astra sighed

“The first initial settlement went fine,” she began “the settlers established a thriving colony. So, our government decided to send another group of settlers after them”

“And that was when things went wrong?” Alex guessed

Astra nodded

“The first group of colonists saw this as…as an invasion almost. Why should they give up what they worked so hard for to a bunch of interlopers? More importantly, why should they take orders from someone millions of miles away on another planet?”

“Think George Washington and King George but in space” Kara pitched in

Astra smirked at Kara’s description and shook her head

“Eventually,” she continued “after months of back and forth arguments, the Daxamites elected a woman named ‘Bal Gand’ as their leader, she was an fire breather if you will, she openly proclaimed that any ship sent from Krypton to Daxam would be seen by them as an act of war”

“And, let me guess, Krypton called their bluff?” Alex nodded

Astra sighed

“They did, Daxam declared its independence from Krypton and thus began a long and bloody war. It became our ‘War to End All Wars’, whole entire Houses were wiped out in seconds, cities burned daily, and by the time it finally ended in bloody stalemate and a reluctant ceasefire, no one on either side could remember who fired first” she explained 

“So…what happened afterwards?” Alex wondered

“In the aftermath,” Astra continued “both sides rebuilt, Krypton rebuilt itself as a society of philosophers, scientists, and explorers. While Daxam, stirred by the leadership of Bal Gand, elected her queen, establishing a hereditary monarchy of kings and queens that ruled over a planet of hedonists that lasted all the way down to Krypton’s last days”

“So, when Krypton exploded, what happened to Daxam anyway?” Kara wondered

Astra shrugged

“Given the close proximity of our orbits, I’d say…hellfire and death rained down on Daxam,” she sighed “the debris from Krypton would have impacted the surface and…” she trailed off “well, the meteor that killed the dinosaurs was only seven miles long. Imagine that if it was an entire planet’s worth”

Both Kara and Alex paled

“So that guy in there could be the last one of his people?” Alex suggested

Astra shrugged

“Let’s go ask” she declared…

******

The Daxamite stood up as they entered, puffing out his chest arrogantly as they approached his cell

“Release me, Kryptonians,” he ordered “and I may yet be lenient”

“Who says we’re Kryptonians?” Astra wondered

The Daxamite scoffed

“Your self-righteous arrogance gives you away” he spat, jerking his head towards Kara, specifically the Crest of El on her chest

“Who are you?” Astra asked “why were you trying to send a signal to Daxam?” she sighed as he remained silent “all right, let’s try this, I am Astra of the House of In-Ze, on my honor as the Primary of my House I vow that no harm will come to you”

“Honor,” the Daxamite scoffed “your kind knows nothing of honor. The corpse of your world litters my own”

“Ah,” Astra smirked “I forgot to bow, forgive me, I didn’t know I was in the presence of one of the Royal House of Gand,” she smirked “how fitting, the royal saves himself but leaves his people to burn”

The Daxamite suddenly lunged, slamming his hands angrily on the transparency

“I AM OF ROYAL BLOOD! YOU WILL BOW BEFORE ME, KRYPTONIAN!!!” he roared

“Your own subjects are dead,” Astra spat “you’re king of nothing,” she spun on her heel, swiftly marching out the doors, Kara and Alex hurrying to follow “enjoy you’re new palace, your majesty” she called out

“Well, that was bust” Alex declared

“No,” Astra shook her head “it wasn’t. Agent Danvers, contact NASA, have them begin monitoring for any deep-space transmissions from Daxam. Then, have Agent Schott begin production of more kryptonite ammunition”

“Wait, why?” Alex asked

“Because,” Astra sighed “I have the sinking feeling that our friend in there may have just called for his army…”


	17. Noble Causes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short double update! :=)

******

“ ** _What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?”_**

\--Winston Churchill

******

“How can you be sure that this…Daxamite isn’t responsible for the assassination attempt on the President?” General Lane asked

"Simple chronology, General,” Astra replied as she leaned back in her chair in her office “the time from when his ship landed to when we picked him up playing dominos with a bar full of bikers was only half an hour at the most, he wouldn’t have had time to learn about what a President is, much less who ours is”

General Lane frowned, but nodded, accepting that answer

“But you’re sure that the attack is connected to the Amnesty Act?” he asked

Astra nodded

“I am. Most likely our attacker is an alien who wants to stop the Act from becoming law” she explained

“But,” General Lane frowned “why would an alien try to _stop_ the Act from becoming law? Aliens are the ones who’ll benefit the most from the Act”

“Fear,” Astra shrugged “legislation like the Amnesty Act—while well-intentioned—has the capacity to be abused. For example, do you remember the AIDS epidemic?” at his nod she continued “during the height of the epidemic, certain members of Congress suggested creating a registry for AIDS victims and others who were HIV positive. The original idea was so that the CDC could easily pinpoint the source of another outbreak, _but_ remember, many of the victims of the virus were homosexual. Now imagine what those with anti-homosexual views could have done if they had access to a list containing all the names and addresses of every HIV positive homosexual man or woman in the country?”

General Lane frowned, looking pale

“You’re talking about interment camps,” he hissed “maybe even gas chambers”

“I am,” Astra nodded “now, I’m not saying that the Amnesty Act will be abused in such a fashion. But the fear that it _might_ could drive someone to want to stop it at any costs. And, please, General, don’t insult my intelligence and tell me that it ‘can’t happen here’. The thousands of Japanese-Americans who were forcibly interred during World War II will tell you that it most definitely _can_ happen here”

General Lane leaned back in his chair, at once chilled and awed at the way the alien before him could be so blasé and yet so concerned for the fate of the world…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Astra's comments about the AIDS epidemic are, frighteningly, based on real-life. During the height of the outbreak some members of Congress called for essentially walling off areas where the infection was known to have originated, essentially creating ghettos. Thankfully, this never happened. Yet


	18. Bottoms Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm back...sort of. My internet connection died on me since my IP decided to 'upgrade' their software (the new version, of course, doesn't work), so I've been without internet since Jan 8, but right now at least, I'm back. I don't know for how long, I'm not going to question it, I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts. So, please enjoy this update :=)

******

**_"Death comes to all of us. Let's have a drink"_ **

\--Unknown

******

The dart _whooshed_ through the air, hitting the board with a distinct _thwack_ , landing dead-center in the center of board.

Astra frowned as she toyed with the second dart in her hand as she leaned back in her office chair, knowing that she could easily strike a perfect bull’s eye several times in a row without really trying if she wanted to.

Since her arrival on Earth, every one of her body’s systems had been enhanced, the radiation from Earth’s yellow sun energized her cells. Her cardiovascular system could process and carry a much purer amount of oxygen to her organs without needing to extract as much from the air around her, reducing the strain on her lungs, resulting in her needing to inhale and exhale less.

Her hand-eye coordination and her fine motor skills were in near-perfect sync with one another, allowing her to balance on one toe on a nickel on the top of the spire of the Empire State Building if she so wished. Her metabolism burned at a higher rate, rendering her immune to most Earthly toxins and poisons, while extracting as much nutrition from her food as possible and discarding the waste material just as efficiently, allowing her to eat practically whatever she wished and not worry about heart disease, diabetes, or weight gain.

In short, even without the godlike powers, she was now as close to biologically ‘perfect’ as was possible, by either Earth or Krypton’s standards.

And she hated every second of it.

As advantageous as her powers were, there were days—much like today—that Astra longed to be mortal again, to not have to constantly mind her strength when shaking someone’s hand, or—even more significantly—when holding Alex as they made love, not having to constantly worry about inadvertently injuring the younger woman.

A knock at the door startled her, and she cursed her lack of attention as she called out for the person on the other side to enter

“Hey,” Alex grinned as she poked her head around the door “I’m clocking off for the night,” she explained “wanted to know if you’d like to get a drink or something”

Astra smirked

“I can’t get drunk,” she muttered, idly tossing the dart still in her hand without even bothering to look, it hit the board with a muted _thwack_. Looking over, Astra scowled “bull’s eye” she muttered disgustedly

Alex frowned as she pushed the door open and stepped inside the office

“Are you OK?” she asked

Astra smirked bitterly

“I’m always OK,” she replied “in fact, I’m ‘super’. As always” she added

Alex nodded slowly

“Powers getting you down I see” she noted

Astra waved a hand vaguely

“I’m just…not particularly enjoying godhood today,” she explained “one has to admire Clark in that respect, being like this, having these powers is normal for him, he grew up with them. Unlike myself”

Alex smirked

“Come on,” she nodded towards the door “I know a place where even _you_ can get drunk”

******

Astra frowned as she took in the dark, dingy and most likely unsafe alleyway Alex had parked in. Getting off the motorcycle, she kept her mouth shut as she followed the younger woman to a heavy-looking metal door at the end of the alley, which Alex knocked on once. A panel slid open, a pair of gleaming eyes peering out

“Password?” they asked

“Dollywood” Alex replied

The panel slid shut instantly and then the door slowly creaked open with a loud groan of badly-oiled hinges.

Crossing the threshold, Astra frowned at her surroundings, the bar was surprisingly large; a haze of what she presumed was cigarette smoke permeated the air along with the ever-present smell of alcohol, while an old jukebox in a corner warbled out an old Dolly Parton song. Seated around the dimly-lit, smoke-filled room were various people of different ages, races, and creeds.

A waitress passing by smiled and waved

“Be right with you, Alex” she called out as she passed

Astra frowned at her young lover

“I don’t think a dive bar was what I had in mind” she admitted

Alex’s smirk just widened

“Look around, tell me what you see” she encouraged

“People who have made questionable life choices?” Astra countered

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes

“Don’t be difficult,” she groaned “come on, look around,”

Frowning, Astra slowly looked around, suddenly spotting the differences. A man at the bar was wearing a large, clearly fake, beard, which hid a set of tendrils hanging down from his chin, which would periodically peek out from under the beard to taste the air. A woman sitting at a table laughing with a friend had bright gold claws on her fingertips. A waitress serving a table idly brushed her hair back, revealing a set of pointed, elfin ears. Finally, a woman passing by gave Astra the once over, smiling and winking as she passed, her eyelid closing vertically.

Aliens, Astra realized, the whole bar was filled with aliens.

On instinct, her hand reached back to the small of her back, closing around her gun, only to stop as Alex’s hand suddenly closed around her wrist

“Easy,” the Human breathed “relax, the bar’s neutral territory,” she explained as she eased Astra’s hand off her gun “anybody can come in and have a drink, no questions asked, Human or alien”

Relaxing, Astra let Alex guide her over to a table and slowly—suspiciously—eased down into a chair, looking around in wonder

“How did you find out about this place?” she asked

“Just wandered in one day back in collage with a bunch of customers,” Alex shrugged “ended up drinking most of them under the table that night”

“And how is it that I wasn’t informed of this establishment’s existence?” Astra challenged

Alex smirked

“What would you have done? Ordered a strike team to raid this place and arrest everybody here just for just having a drink?” she shook her head “the bar was created so that aliens could come and just be themselves, to not have to worry about groups like Cadmus, or even the DEO, getting into their business simply because they weren’t born here” she explained

Astra smirked and ducked her head

“ _‘It’s not enough that you protect the world but that you live in it too’_ ,” she recited, recalling the President’s words. She absently toyed with a salt shaker on the table, avoiding Alex’s gaze “maybe the President was right,” she mused quietly “maybe I’ve been so wrapped up in protecting the Earth that I’ve forgotten to live in it too. Despite all my claims about how not all aliens are a threat, the minute I come into a room full of aliens I immediately try to draw a weapon”

Alex reached out and took her hand, squeezing tightly

“How about we both get totally plastered right now?” she suggested

Astra smirked

“That sounds _incredibly_ appealing right now” she breathed

“Trust me,” Alex chuckled as she signaled for a server “they’ll have something that’ll work even on your metabolism” she promised

The same server who’d greeted Alex when they’d came in quickly appeared, smiling brightly

“Hey, Alex, long time no see” she greeted

“Hey, Darla” Alex grinned

“The usual?” Darla asked

“Yep” Alex nodded. She nodded to Astra

Astra frowned as she turned to Darla

“I don’t suppose you have any Aldebrin whiskey?” she wondered. Much to her surprise, Darla nodded

“Sure,” she answered brightly “how much you want?”

“Just a shot”

“Sure thing,” Darla wrote down their orders “be back in a sec” she promised as she dashed off to the bar

Frowning, Astra watched her go

“She’s a Roltikkon, isn’t she?” she guessed

Alex nodded

“That’s right”

“Huh,” Astra frowned “I heard that they have special neuro-receptors in their tongues that allow them to pick up any skill or technique just through physical contact” she remarked

“How do you think she learned English?” Alex chuckled

Astra raised an eyebrow, Alex chuckled

“Let’s just say that you’re not my first non-human girlfriend” she explained

Astra chuckled as Darla swiftly returned with their drinks. Lifting her own glass and taking a quiet sip, Astra shook her head in amusement

“Alexandra Danvers, you never cease to amaze me” she chuckled as she downed her shot, the first of many that night…

******

Later, both _heavily_ inebriated, they’d called a cab and then managed to stagger into Alex’s apartment, managing to make it to the couch before their legs gave out. Collapsing onto the couch into a tangle of limbs, Astra brushed Alex’s hair away from her face and kissed her long, slow, and sweet, utterly glad to have her in her life…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody know who said the quote? If you do, could you let me know? It's been bugging me for weeks


	19. New Frontiers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update!! :=)

******

“ _ **We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier…the frontier of unknown opportunities and pearls, the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and unfulfilled dreams…beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus…I’m asking each of you to be pioneers towards that New Frontier**_ ”

\--John F. Kennedy

******

Astra winced as she nursed her thermos of tea. They needed to turn down the brightness of either the monitors or the sun she decided as she rubbed her temple and bellowed at another agent who dropped something

“Hungover?”

Still wincing, she looked over at Susan as the other woman approached

“How could you tell?” she chuckled

The Martian smirked

“Because Alex keeps wincing every time a door closes,” she chuckled. She popped a choco into her mouth and assessed Astra “how did she even get you drunk anyway? I thought that your metabolism burned through alcohol too fast for you to feel the effects”

Astra chuckled

“Alien metabolism, alien alcohol” she explained

“Ah,” Susan nodded “didn’t know that we had an alien bar in National City” she remarked

Astra frowned

“Does everyone but me know about this place?” she grumbled

Susan chuckled

“No, just comes with the territory,” she explained “there’ve been alien watering holes as long as there’ve been aliens on Earth. In fact, some of the first speakeasies were actually built by and for aliens”

“I didn’t know that” Astra remarked

“You weren’t on Earth during Prohibition,” Susan countered. She shrugged “of course, I was working with the government to shut down the speakeasies at the time, so I can’t really testify how many of them were actually run by aliens”

“So you were comrades in arms with Elliot Ness, were you?” Astra mused

Susan chuckled

“That’s…one way of putting it,” she chuckled at Astra’s confused expression “I’m a shapeshifter, Astra, I can be _anyone_ I chose to be,” she reminded the Kryptonian as she held out her ever-present tablet PC “security measures for the President’s speech today” she explained…

******

The National City Botanical Gardens, where President Marsden was going to sign the Alien Amnesty Act into law, was located in the relative middle of the city. Despite featuring a wide variety of rare and exotic plant species, many life-long residents of the city had never been there, Alex herself had lived in National City for close to three years now and had never even heard of the place until a few days ago.

Shifting in the early morning chill, Alex checked her sidearm for the umpteenth time as President Marsden walked up the podium, waiting until the cheering crowd had quieted down

“One hundred years ago,” she began “this country welcomed the first immigrants. Today, we call them the ‘Native Americans’. From that first day those early people set foot in this new land, we became a country of immigrants. Immigrants from around the world came here seeking a new life, new opportunities, new freedoms to worship, to explore. Today, we must welcome a new group of immigrants, those from far beyond our shores, from the heavens themselves. And we must welcome them with open arms, we must see them for what they truly are: not ‘monsters’, not even ‘saviors’, but lost people seeking a better life and a new home,”

She paused, smiling, as the crowd cheered vigorously

“Now, if someone could hand me a pen…,” there was chuckle through the crowd as an aid handed her a pen. Holding it above the paper on the podium with a flourish, she declared “it is with great honor, that I hereby sign the ‘Alien Amnesty Act’ into law”

She had just lifted the pen from the paper, when a jet of fire shot to strike the podium

“ _All agents move in!_ ” Astra ordered over the comms as Kara suddenly swooped in, blocking the next blast with her body, the force of the blast knocking her back as the President’s bodyguards ushered her to safety.

Grunting, Alex struggled to push her way through the panicking crowds

“ _Does_ anyone _have eyes on the hostile?_ ” Astra demanded over the comms

“ _Negative_ ”

“ _Negative_ ”

“ _Negative_ ”

Alex turned, spotting a woman who was merely standing there amid the crowd. Unlike the hundreds of others, she merely stood there, watching it all unfold with an almost amused air.

Alex tapped her comm

“I got her,”

Sprinting forward, she drew her gun, taking aim at the woman as she approached

“Freeze!” she bellowed. The woman turned, grinning manically at her as her hands suddenly burst in to flames. Grunting, she suddenly lunged, seizing Alex’s gun and easily melting it as she sprayed a wide stream of fire around the area…

******

Kara grunted as she sat up, wincing. Blinking, she suddenly noticed that her arm was on fire. Shaking off the cobwebs, she easily slapped the flames out and struggled to her feet as J’onn landed, shifting back into Susan Vasquez as he did

“Are you all right?” she asked

Kara winced and nodded

“Where’s Alex?” she asked

Susan grimaced

“I was hoping you could tell me” she replied…

******

“I want answers people!” Astra snarled as she stormed into Command “and I want them _yesterday_. Do we have any information on the hostile?”

“We know what she looks like, at least” Lucy explained

“TV news crew was doing a pan of the crowd before the attack,” Susan explained “got to match to Agent Ryan’s description” she pulled up an image of the screen, a redheaded humanoid female.

Astra frowned as admittedly murky, drunken memories suddenly surfaced. An angrily redhead bumping into them as she and Alex staggered out of the bar, sneering at them as she passed, a distinctly muttered _‘groupie’_ thrown Alex’s way

“I know her” Astra realized

“How?” Kara asked

Astra shook her head

“Later. Print me out a copy of this image”

******

Getting back into the alien bar was surprisingly easy, Astra realized. Surveying the small clump of patrons, she sized them up, trying to isolate one who might have ‘overheard’ something, anything. Spotting the alien male with the fake beard, she stormed over

“Help you?” he asked, looking annoyed at her having disturbed his drink. In reply, Astra slapped the photograph down on the bar top

“Who is she?”

The man shrugged

“Don’t know, seen her around a few times”

Astra smirked

“Don’t toy with me. This woman just kidnapped someone and tried to assassinate the President twice. Now, who is she?”

“Not my president,” he scoffed. He finally turned to face her fully “but…maybe a couple hundred bucks might jog my memory” he offered

In response, Astra promptly kicked his stool out from under him. Indifferent to his pained bellow as his chin hit the edge of the bar, Astra tore the fake beard off and firmly grabbed a handful of his chin tendrils and _twisted_

“You’re a Cryonnon, aren’t you?” she mused “hmm, I read somewhere that these tendrils are very sensitive,” he groaned as she twisted some more “shall we find out how sensitive?”

“Don’t, don’t know her name!” he gasped out “just…seen her around!”

“What did she do?” Astra demanded

“Just…talked, you know?” he gagged “said some things about Humans, just talk, you know? Never thought she’d go through with it!”

“Where is she now?” Astra demanded, he shook his head “where?!”

“I know her,”

Astra paused and looked up at the bartender, a pretty young African-American woman

“She hangs out down by the old foundry” she explained

Astra frowned, assessing her, before dropping her suspect, where he curled into a ball on the floor, whimpering in pain

“Which old foundry?” Astra asked…

******

Alex gasped as she jerked awake, wincing as awareness came back with brutal intensity.

Taking stock, she found that she was suspended in a standing position, her hands tied tightly above her head to what looked like a piece of I-beam in what looked like an abandoned building in the old Foundry District. From the shooting pins and needles in her arms, she guessed that she’d been tied up for at least an hour, possibly more.

“So,” a voice suddenly said “you’re the little alien groupie,”

Twisting her head—which painfully pulled on her neck muscles—Alex found the speaker, the same redheaded woman who’d attacked the Botanical Gardens

“I saw you last night,” she continued “at the bar with your little Kryptonian _pet_ ,” she smiled cruelly “because that’s all she is to you, isn’t she? A plaything”

Alex twisted futilely her bonds

“I care about her,” she explained “I care about the community”

The Infirnian laughed

“ ‘Care’? You don’t care about us,” she scoffed “no. We’re just ‘things’ to you Humans”

“Some of us do care,” Alex insisted, idly wondering why she was trying to reason with a fanatic “look at the President, she’s giving you full rights, freedoms”

“Riiight,” the Infirnian scoffed “you mean ‘registration’. Because that’s what ‘amnesty’ really means doesn’t it? Just another way for you to find out where we live, who we are. All so you round us up and _exterminate_ us!”

“That’s a pretty cynical view” 

Alex mentally sighed in relief as Kara suddenly dropped down behind her captor

“You know I’m right,” the Infirian challenged “that’s why you won’t tell the Humans who you really are, Supergirl”

“No,” Kara shook her head “it’s to protect my family from criminals like you” with a growl, she fired off a blast of heat vision at the Infirnian.

Staggering back, the Infirnian swiftly recovered and held up her hands, fire dancing at her fingertips…


	20. Wonders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWENTY!! Whoo! Enjoy :=)

******

Alex twisted in her bonds, struggling to get free as she watched Kara and the Infirnian duel. They seemed to evenly matched, while the Infirnian lacked Kara’s strength or speed, she made up for it with an equal amount of durability and the ability to throw fireballs like Alex could shoot spitballs.

“Alex!”

Turning as best she could, Alex sighed in relief as Astra appeared behind her and easily snapped the ropes holding her up

“This way,” Astra urged her back and down behind a pile of rubble “are you all right?” she asked

“Besides my arms feeling like they’ve been in a vice, I’m fine,” Alex grumbled “where have you been?” she demanded

“Oh the gratitude” Astra scoffed. A loud yell from Kara made them both turn, watching as Kara was pitched back from a full-body blast by the Infirnian, who now stood over a weakened and prone Kara triumphantly

“What’s the matter, Supergrirl? Can’t take the heat?” she taunted

“Enough!”

Craning their heads round the barrels they were hiding behind, Alex and Astra watched as the President herself marched in, free of bodyguards or escorts

“You want to hurt someone then hurt me. Leave her out of this” she proclaimed

“What’s she doing?” Alex hissed, stopping as Astra grabbed her arm

“Easy,” the Kryptonian warned “she knows what she’s doing” she explained as the President strode forward, confidently. An aura of command and authority that Alex had only ever seen from Astra now surrounded her as she faced down the deranged Infirnian.

“You think I won’t kill you?” the Infirnian scoffed “I’ve been to planets like this one,” she snarled “where the locals lock up anyone that looks different! You think you’re any better?” she scoffed “the only reason you trust _her_ …,” she nodded to Kara, who had managed to roll over onto her stomach and was struggling to get upright “…is because she looks like one of you”

President Marsden shook her head

“We’re not perfect, I’ll be the first one to admit,” she began “but will my death bring you peace? Will hers?” she nodded towards Kara “how does killing scores of innocent people ‘protect’ you and all the other aliens on Earth? All it will do is prove to dozens of people who oppose the Act that aliens are to be feared and hated,” she held out a hand, imploringly “please, stop this madness” she pleaded

In response, the Infirnian suddenly threw out her hands, two beach-ball sized blasts of fire striking the President and hurling her burning form back into a wall

Kara suddenly, angrily surged to her feet, hitting the Infirnian with a blast of freeze breath, encasing her in a sizeable block of ice

“Kara,” Alex surged to her feet, rushing to Kara’s side “are you OK?!” she demanded as Astra hurried after her

Kara shook her head

“The President…” she whispered, trailing off at a loud _hiss_ from the block off ice. A brilliant orange glow was steadily building from within as the ice began to steam and melt

“Damn it” Alex hissed as she urged Kara and Astra back as the Infirnian suddenly burst free of her icy prison with a spectacular explosion of ice.

Glowering, she held up her hands, fire bursting from her fingers as a brilliant orange glow pulsed under her skin. With murder in her eyes, she approached the three

“That’s far enough!”

Stopping, the Infirnian slowly turned to where she’d forced the President, watching as President Marsden emerged from the still-smoldering flames unharmed, her clothes still burning. With a grunt, she began to casually tear the burning cloth off

“Looks like I’m not the only alien in hiding” the Infirnian laughed

Pausing, President Marsden finished removing the last of her burning clothes, revealing glittering crimson and gold armor beneath. Smirking, she slowly shook her head

“Not an alien,” she explained “Amazon,”

The Infirnian lunged, a fireball whistling from her hands as President Marsden easily sidestepped, blocking the blast with one of the gauntlets on each of her arms. Uncoiling the long rope at her hip with her free arm, she easily lassoed the Infirnian, the rope glowing a brilliant gold even as the Infirnian tried to burn through it with no effect.

Reeling her in ease, Marsden quickly kicked the Infiranian’s feet out from under before coiled the remaining length of rope around her legs, hogtying her

“Submit!” she ordered. Instantly the Infirnian stopped kicking and simply lay there, whimpering as tears rolled down her face.

Taking a breath, President Marsden straightened and assessed the two Kryptonians and one Human standing before

“I suppose I owe you an explanation” she began

“You’re…,” Kara shook her head, staring in disbelief

“My real name is ‘Diana Prince’,” the Amazon explained “better known as ‘Wonder Woman’.”

“Wait,” Alex began “you…you first appeared during World War II”

“I did,” Diana Prince nodded “after the war ended, I stayed behind and realized that I could do more as an ordinary woman than as some costumed idol,” she paused and smirked at Kara “no offense”

“Wait,” Alex spoke up “everything I’ve ever read about you said that your lasso could make people speak the truth,” she gestured to the Infirnian who still lay there now quietly sobbing “what’s with her?”

“That’s a misconception,” Astra spoke up “the lasso doesn’t make you _speak_ the truth, it forces you to see the truth _within yourself_ , to see into your very soul” she explained. She smirked at Alex’s confused expression “I speak from personal experience”

“After Hank Henshaw died, Superman asked me to use the lasso on Astra,” Diana spoke up “he wanted to see if she was really being sincere about her desire to reform the DEO”

“Wait,” Kara shook her head “you mean you knew about her before she exposed herself?”

“I did,” Diana nodded “and before you ask, I couldn’t reveal that I knew about her without exposing myself,” she smirked at the three “I would appreciate it if you all didn’t mention this to anyone”

“Of course” Alex nodded, still feeling a little punch drunk…


	21. Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth shall set you free. End of AU of "Welcome to Earth"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are folks, the end of our AU of "Welcome to Earth". Now a bit of a programing note, I'm doing another episode flip here, so "Crossfire" will follow this chapter rather than "Survivors", it just flows better to me, with the Alien Amnesty Act as a major plot point in "Crossfire" and all, but don't worry, out favorite White Martian _will_ be making her appearance soon. For now, please enjoy :=)

******

The Infirnian had been silent during their trip back to the DEO and had gone into a cell without complaint or protest, leaving Alex to wonder just what ‘truth’ about herself that she saw while being bound in the lasso. What truth had Astra seen, she wondered?

Shelving those thoughts for another day, she exited the prisoner cells and came back to Command to see Diana—now back as Olivia Marsden—shaking hands with Astra and Kara

“I hope you’ll remember what I said about living in the world, Director?” she asked

Astra smirked

“I will indeed” she replied as Diana turned to Kara

“I think National City is going to be just fine with you watching over it, Supergirl” she proclaimed, causing Kara to blush

“Thanks,” she giggled “and thanks for the tour of Air Force One” she added, beaming widely

“If you think that’s impressive, you should my other jet,” Diana replied as she turned to Susan, warmly shaking the Martian’s hand “remember, this is a new world, J’onn J’onzz,” she began “don’t cling to memories of the old one” she advised

“I’ll take that under advisement” Susan chuckled as two aides quietly led the President away

“Oh my god! Could she _be_ any cooler?” Kara exclaimed “I mean even with the whole….you know…Amazon thing,” she shook her head “I don’t know how anyone voted for that other guy”

“Neither do I” Alex chuckled

“Alex,”

She turned to see Lucy walking over, Winn in tow

“What’s this I hear about an alien bar?” Lucy asked

“Yeah, sounds interesting” Winn nodded

“Hey, yeah,” Kara nodded “why haven’t I heard about this place?”

Besides her, Astra smirked

“I think your secret’s out” she chuckled

Alex groaned

“All right,” she sighed “c’mon, I’ll take you all there,” she glanced past Lucy and Winn towards Susan, who’d gone back to the monitors “J’onn. You want to tag along?” she asked

“I’ll pass, thanks” the Martian replied

Alex shrugged

“OK, if you want, I’ll give you the address” she offered

“Whatever” Susan shrugged...

******

The bar was packed as they walked in.

“O…K,” Winn nodded as two bald, grey-skinned beings passed him and Lucy “this place is….intense”

“Cool though” Kara added, adjusting her glasses

“Definitely” James added as they all found a table. Kara pulling out a notepad and scribbling on it

“What are you doing?” Alex asked

“Huh? Oh, working on my notes for my interview with the President” was Kara’s distracted answer, as James coughed uncomfortably, causing Kara to look up and wince

“Since when are you a reporter?” Alex wondered

Kara cringed

“Since…six months ago,” she admitted, blushing furiously “Ms. Grant offered me a promotion after Myriad,” she explained hurriedly “told me I could have any job I wanted. And…I wanted to be a reporter”

“What?” Alex spluttered “why didn’t you tell me this?” she demanded

“Well I was going to,” Kara began “but you were busy with the whole UN changeover, so...I didn’t think it was a big deal”

“ ‘Not a big dealt’?” Alex echoed, turning to Astra in disbelief “ ‘not a big deal’ she says. Kara! This _definitely_ counts as a ‘big deal’!”

“Yeah!” Winn added, clearly offended “I didn’t get offered a promotion” he added sullenly, earning him a paper napkin ball to the head from his girlfriend

“You got recruited by the DEO,” Lucy pointed out “that’s one hell of a promotion”

“Agreed,” Astra nodded “I could have just left you rotting away at CatCo, Mr. Schott” she pointed out

Winn scowled as he clearly struggled for a retort but was unable to as Alex rounded on James

“And you knew about this?” she demanded

“I did,” he nodded “in fact, I encouraged her to take the offer” he explained

Alex sighed as their drinks came, swiftly snatching up her beer and taking a big gulp

“You,” she pointed at Kara “are in _so much_ trouble” she proclaimed

“For what?” Kara demanded “I’m an _adult_ , Alex!”

“True,” Alex nodded. She leaned in, grinning downright evilly “but I’m betting you didn’t tell Eliza yet”

Winn and Lucy gasped and ‘oooh’ed accusingly at Kara, who blushed and fidgeted

“I…was getting around to it” Kara squirmed

“Ah-ha!” Alex pointed at her triumphantly “I’m telling!” she proclaimed, sounding like she was two years old

Watching all of this, Astra threw her head back and started laughing...

******

Later that night, as they lay in bed together, Alex spoke

“What ‘truth’ did you see under the lasso?” she wondered quietly

For a moment Astra was silent, and Alex thought she wasn’t going to answer, but then she shifted, rolling over to face Alex, placing a gentle kiss on her lips

“Enough” she answered…


	22. Crossfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes its worse being caught in the crossfire then it is to chose sides. AU of "Crossfire"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWENTY-TWO! Enjoy! Also, it should go without saying that in this 'verse James will NOT become Guardian, so in here you'll see him thinking about it, but the others will manage to talk him out of it. Now, on the show! :=)

******

“ _ **Today, our immigration system is broken, and everybody knows it. Families who enter our country the right way and the play by the rules watch others foul the rules. Business owners who offer their workers good wages benefits see the competition exploiting undocumented immigrants by paying them far less. All of us take offense to anyone who reaps the rewards of living in America without taking on the responsibilities of living in America. And undocumented immigrants who desperately want to embrace those responsibilities see little option but to remain in the shadows or risk their families being torn apart**_ ”

\--Barrack Obama

******

Kara sipped her coffee as she crossed the street, smiling brightly and even waving cheerfully at the irate driver who honked angrily at her because she was crossing too slowly in his opinion it seemed. But Kara simply ignored him; she was in too good of a mood to be bothered. Her interview with President Marsden had been published (on the front cover no less). Her talk with Eliza over becoming a reporter had earned her hug and Eliza’s undying praise it seemed. Astra hadn’t called to say that Alex had nearly gotten herself killed (a plus in Kara’s book), and best of all, she had a lunch date with the best man in the galaxy

Life was _good_.

“Kara!”

She turned, smiling and waving as James jogged up to her

“Hey!” she greeted brightly “I thought we were meeting at the restaurant?” she wondered as she automatically looped her arm with his and began aimlessly walking down the street

“We were,” James nodded “ _but_ ,” he reached into his bag and pulled out two slips of paper “I finally got something I’d think you’d like” he explained

“Tickets?” Kara asked, confused as she took them from him, gasping as she read them “ _Hamilton_ tickets?!” she exclaimed

“It’s playing at the NC Theater,” James nodded “thought we could go tonight”

“Uh… _yes_!” Kara nodded enthusiastically “we’re defiantly going!” she proclaimed as if it was a no-brainer “hey! Can we invite Alex and Astra or Winn and Lucy with us?” she wondered

James grinned and held up two more tickets

“I could only get two more,” he explained “so, we’ll have to pick who to take with us”

“That’s fine,” Kara beamed as she took the two other tickets, frowning “hmm, it’ll probably be Winn and Lucy,” she declared “Alex will probably forget and I don’t think Astra would be interested”

“You don’t know that,” James reminded her “ask them, see what happens” he suggested

Kara grinned as she leaned in a gave him a kiss

“Best boyfriend _ever_ ” she proclaimed. The intimate moment was promptly spoiled by the loud squeal of tires. Turning, the two watched as an SUV suddenly drove up onto the curb, three armed men spilling out of it and charging into a nearby bank

“Sounds like that’s your cue” James remarked

“Looks like,” Kara nodded “I almost feel bad for them,” she remarked “I mean, right in front of Supergirl?” turning, she swiftly ducked down a side alley and quickly landed in front of the three thieves as they emerged from the bank, all carrying heavy-looking duffel bags over one shoulder. The three men stopped when they saw her, but strangely they didn’t seem terribly afraid or even nervous. They weren’t even wearing masks, she noticed

“Going somewhere?” Kara demanded

The man in the middle, presumably the leader, smirked as he withdrew a long silver rifle-like weapon from his bag

“Was hoping you’d show up” he remarked as he took aim, a brilliant blast of white-blue energy suddenly lashing out from the weapon to strike Kara, pitching her high into the air to collide with a nearby building

“C’mon! Let’s go! Go!” one of the other thieves proclaimed as they ran for their getaway car. With a grunt, James grabbed one fleeing thief’s arm, swung him around, and delivered a hard punch to his face.

He only got the one in.

One of the other thieves lunged, delivering a hard kidney punch to James’ back. As he doubled over, the thief he’d punched delivered a hard kick to his midsection, followed by a hard stomp to his side

“C’mon! Leave him!” the leader ordered. Sneering, the other two joined their boss, rapidly climbing into the SUV even as it began to speed off. James weakly looked, just having enough time to register his camera lying in the gutter before the SUV sped over it, crushing it

“James!”

He winched as he felt Kara’s hands grab his shoulders

“Are you all right?” she demanded

“Yeah” he panted out, unable to take his eyes off the ruins off the camera

“Oh no,” Kara panted as she followed his gaze “your dad’s camera” she realized…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nice Karaolsen moment anyone? :=)


	23. Saintly Sinners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Warning gets a little philosophical at the end

******

“That’s it! Right there!” Kara pointed to the weapon on the screen

“OK,” Winn examined his tablet PC “ _that_ is a…Andronian particle rifle,” he read “huh, cool, it operates by phasing muons” he remarked

“How did a bunch of bank robbers get their hands on alien weapons?” Kara wondered

“I don’t suppose that the thieves could have _been_ Andronians?” Alex wondered

“That depends,” Astra chuckled “were they purple with fins?”

“No” Kara answered

“Then they weren’t Andronians,” Astra explained. She leaned forward on the operations table, scowling “this is the last thing we need at the moment,” she grumbled “the Alien Amnesty Act is only a month old, people are still unsure of it. We need to find these bank robbers and fast, or better yet, find out how they’re getting a hold of alien weaponry” she announced just as the screens began flickering

“Not again” Winn complained as images of Alex’s red kryptonite fueled rampage flashed across the screens, followed by images of Kara’s areal battle with Non, and finally of the recent bank robbery just hours earlier

“ _This is the reality of our world,_ ” a distorted voice proclaimed “ _alien weapons are flooding our streets. Soon, they will reach our schools, our children. Our families will be in constant danger from alien attack. This is the true terror that Amnesty can bring. Join us in fighting back. Renounce the false saviors and help us to take back our world. We are your salvation. We are Cadmus_ ”

“These people are really starting to get on my nerves” Lucy grumbled as the screens cleared

“Why does that not surprise me?” Alex sighed

“Look at the upside,” Astra drawled “at least we now know who’s furnishing the thieves with weaponry”

“That still doesn’t help stop them” Kara sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration

“Maybe, maybe not,” Astra remarked “but we have a start at least,” she came over and gave Kara’s shoulder a squeeze “you’re a reporter now,” she reminded her “use that. Investigate. Report. Let the people know that not all aliens are a threat,” she smiled as she pulled back “in the meantime, I’m going to have a talk with our resident alien expert” she announced…

******

“Hey, how are you feeling?” James asked as Kara came over. In response she dragged a hand through her hair in clear frustration, making it stick up in place

“I don’t know,” she sighed, exasperated “there have been three more robberies, all using alien weapons. I mean, we’re talking weapons that more advanced than anything that Krypton ever had. Pyrian fire-throwers, Excalibrian microblades,” she huffed out a breath “and _now_ it looks like Cadmus is behind it all, that they’re the one giving these guys the weapons”

James sighed as he sat down, wincing as he did

“Are you OK?” Kara reached for him, but he waved her hands away

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he dismissed “as for Cadmus, it makes sense,” he scowled “the Amnesty Act is the exact opposite of everything that Cadmus wants,” he sighed and ran a hand down his face, looking tired “speaking of which, a recent poll just showed that fifty percent of voters are thinking of repealing the Act”

“Which is just what Cadmus wants,” Kara huffed. She looked up at the ding of the elevator “Lena, hi!” she greeted as Lena Luthor came round the corner, smiling widely. Since their meeting a month or so prior during the Metallo crisis, she found herself becoming friends with the CEO. Despite having the unfortunate connection to Lex Luthor, his sister was rapidly proving herself to be nothing at all like him, she was a philanthropist, donating vast sums of money to charity, a certified genus (she had a IQ that was at least ten points above genius) and in general a decent human being

“Hello again, Kara,” she greeted “Mr. Olsen” she shook warmly hands with James

“So, what brings you by, Ms. Luthor?” he asked

“Ah,” Lena’s smile widened “I was hoping I could ask a favor of you both”

Kara nodded

“Yeah, sure, of course”

“The National City Children’s Hospital was damaged in the first robbery,” she began “L-Corp is hosting a charity fundraising gala to help repair the damage. Now, I was _hoping_ that one of you could get in touch with Supergirl for me”

“You want her to be a bodyguard” James guessed

Lena’s cheeks pinked ever so slightly

“Not to put too fine a point on it, but yes,” she nodded “with these criminals running around, a lot of people, rich and poor, are scared. Some people are even supporting them, because they feel that humans now need alien weapons to protect themselves from alien attacks since the Amnesty Act was passed,” she explained “I was hoping that, with Supergirl there, people will feel safer and more at ease”

Kara and James both glanced at each other

“We’ll…see what we can do” James finally said

Lena nodded

“That’s all I ask”

“No promises though” Kara added

Lena nodded once

“Of course not” smiling somewhat cryptically, she bide them goodbye and then quietly turned and headed back towards the elevator

“Was it just me or did it sound like she has an ulterior motive?” Kara wondered

“No” James replied

Kara sighed

“I _really_ hope she’s a good guy,” she groaned “I like her a lot”

James chuckled

“I know”

******

Alex paused as she approached Non’s cell, the sounds of frantic Kryptonese reaching her ears. She frowned, she’d never heard Astra speak it before, even after finding out whom she really was. Leaning closer, she tried to make out the conversation, it sounded like Non and Astra were arguing, the alien syllables sharp and harsh, the tones loud and angry.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Alex took a breath and opened the doors, freezing at what she saw.

Non frantically paced inside his cell, his movements sharp, looking like he was possibly on the verge of having a total breakdown

 **[** People _always_ die, Astra! **]** Non spat **[** whether here or on Krypton. They _die_. And there is nothing we can do to prevent that **]**

 **[** I know you don’t believe that, **]** Astra countered **[** I find it hard to believe that you joined my cause out a desire for power and control **]**

Non scowled

“Your Human thinks differently,” he spat out in English, causing Astra to turn and face Alex “you see how she looks at me,” Non hissed “all she sees is a ‘thing’, something which only deserves to live as long as it is useful”

Alex took a step forward into the room

“I’m sorry,” she said “I’m sorry what I did to you, for what’s _been_ done to you. But if you _didn’t_ care, then you would have left Astra for dead back in Fort Rozz. And you _certainly_ wouldn’t have brought me to see her”

Non sank back down on the bench

“Go and leave me in peace,” he ordered quietly. He bowed his head, jaw clenched, eyes squeezed shut “ _please,_ ” he whispered “ _just…go_ ”

Astra sighed and quietly turned around, leaving Alex alone with Non. He slowly lifted his head, staring at her

“I still have nightmares about that” she said without preamble

Non said nothing and turned away, seemingly dismissing her. Sighing, Alex turned and began to stalk out of the room

“She has a way of making people believe in her, doesn’t she?” Non asked quietly “Astra” he elaborated as she turned to face him

“She does” Alex nodded

“No matter the odds,” he continued “no matter the stakes, she can make you feel…,” he trailed off, chuckling “ ‘super’, I think is an apt description. As if you could defeat any foe, conquer any enemy,” he looked up, smirking “she can make a saint into a sinner, and a sinner into a saint, to borrow from your theology,” he proclaimed.

He shifted, staring her square in the eye

“I warn you, girl. Loving her has its consequences,” he warned “be _very sure_ that you know what they are”

Alex smirked humorlessly at him

“Too late,” she whispered “I’ve already fallen”

Non nodded slowly

“Then I pity you” he said simply…


	24. Devotion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triple update! Enjoy! :=)

******

“ _ **Precious in the eyes of God is the death of His loyal ones**_ "

\--Psalms 116:15

******

Winn took a sip of his coffee as he stared at the monitors. He was starting to feel a little cross-eyed right about now, he’d been staring at the news reports for…two? Three? Hours and was starting to feel his brain began to melt. Stretching his arms up above his head, and earning a loud, painful-sounding _pop_ he signaled to Susan that he was going on break, the Martian merely nodding back silently.

“Hey”

Winn looked up as Alex approached him

“I’m on break” he said without stopping

“O…K,” clearly confused, Alex trailed after him “actually I was going to ask if you still wanted those pool lessons”

“Oh,” Winn blinked “sorry. Yeah, sure,” he nodded “could you? ‘Cause Lucy keeps kicking my butt and its getting kind of annoying,” he groaned as he slipped into the break room and raided the cabinets for anything to eat “the only game I can win is gin, and the only person I can beat is Astra,” he smirked as he found a bag of crackers “and she’s, you know, my boss. Doesn’t exactly look good if I beat her”

Alex chuckled

“No it does not” she agreed

“You…OK?” Winn asked suddenly around a mouthful of crackers “you got this…I don’t know…this… _air_ about you. Like someone kicked your puppy almost”

Alex sighed

“Just had a talk with Non” she began

“Ulp, say no more!” Winn chuckled “that guy is bad news”

Alex sighed again

“That’s thing. Is he though?” she wondered “or is he like Astra? Someone who was beaten down so many times that the only way they knew how to survive was to kill first”

“He tried to turn us all into zombies!” Winn exclaimed

“I know, I know,” Alex groaned “but…at the same time, he _did_ save Astra’s life,” she pointed out “and he willingly surrendered. Plus he ‘pledged’ himself into ‘the service of the House of In-Ze’, which, I’m not sure what that means, but the way Kara and Astra talk about it, it sounds like a big deal”

Winn sighed and shrugged

“Don’t know,” he admitted. He held out the bag towards her, giving it a little shake “cracker?” he offered

“Sure” Alex had just reached into the bag, when Susan stuck her head around the door

“Ma’am, 911 call just came in, robbery at the National City Jewelry Exchange” she announced

“Any alien weapons?” Alex asked as she and Winn followed Susan back into Command

“Unknown at this time”

“Hang on,” Winn bent over a keyboard “somebody’s probably live streaming this, and…,” he leaned back “uh…yeah. Yeah, I’d definitely say that counts as an alien weapon” he muttered

“I’m calling Kara” Alex muttered, cell phone already to her ear…

******

Kara landed with a bang, watching as the same three crooks loaded what had to be millions of dollars worth of diamonds and other jewels into their car.

The leader turned to her, grinning

“You’re late,” he commented “was hoping you’d get here sooner” he swung the strange horseshoe-shaped device in his arms to the side, aiming into at an approaching police car, a rippling wave of purple energy lashing out to strike the car. Almost-instantly, the car was pitched high into the air, tumbling end of over end like a toy.

Kara didn’t hesitate, sparing the three thieves a glance; she took off into the air, rapidly approaching the still-climbing car. Even from this distance, she could see frost beginning to form on the windows, rapidly spreading to the rest of the car’s body as it passed the cloud bank with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Grunting, Kara managed to get a hand hold on the right front wheel. Using that for leverage, she swung herself up towards the door, tearing it open with a shriek of protesting metal. Reaching inside, she tore the seatbelt off the now semi-conscious officer and dragged him out, watching as the car rapidly climbed into the sky, disappearing from view…

******

“ _Extra precautions are being taken by the NCPD for the upcoming L-Corp charity gala tomorrow night in light of the still at large criminal gang. As seen earlier today, only the timely intervention of Supergirl was an NCPD officer saved from certain death. According to a statement made by the NCPD, the officer in question was taken to the hospital suffering from oxygen deprivation and a mild case of frostbite, but is expected to make a full recovery. In related news, opinion polls are rapidly turning against the Alien Amnesty Act. Once hailed by many as the first step towards a brighter future for Humans and aliens, many of the Act’s supporters are now withdrawing their support in light of the recent crime spree in National City. In other news—_ ”

“Will you turn that off?” Astra scowled from the stove as she managed to use a wide variety of utensils that Alex had forgotten she’d even bought, much less owned.

Aiming the remote at the TV, Alex turned it off, flopping back against the couch with a sigh

“Something bothering you?” Astra asked as she came over bearing a plate of food

“Just…,” Alex waved a hand vaguely “I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if the world’s just better without us”

“You mean ‘us’ personally or the DEO?” Astra wondered

“I don’t know,” Alex admitted “both maybe”

“Hmm,” Astra sighed “your father told me that you were ‘tough’, that you looked out for Kara, that you kept her safe. I find it hard to believe that you’re just going to quit now”

Alex turned to stare at her

“Non told me,” she began “that you have a habit of drawing people in, that you can make ‘ _sinners into saints, and saints into sinners_ ’,” she shook her head “I _tortured_ him. I was ready and willing to _murder_ him. Just to get you back”

“But I didn’t tell you to do that,” Astra reminded her “that’s the funny thing about loyalty, it often drives people to do things that the very person their loyal to would condemn” she explained

Alex said nothing to this, and instead merely tucked herself in against Astra’s side…


	25. Death Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James has a death wish it seems..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWENTY-FIVE! No General Danvers in this one, but plenty of Karaolsen and Major Nerd so enjoy :=)

******

Chet Miner was not what you would call a ‘complicated’ man. His goals in life were almost childishly simple: namely getting as much money as humanly possible and keeping it. Learning early on that it was a lot easier to take what he wanted than work for it he’d embarked on a life of crime. One which—until recently—had been lucrative, but unremarkable. However, with the new toys he and his crew had to play with now, they could pull off all the jobs they use to only dream about.

Miner rolled his eyes as the sleek car slide up

“About time” he exclaimed as the driver opened the back door, the same woman who Winn and Lucy had encountered at Cadmus stepping out

“I’ll have you know that I’m five minutes early, Mr. Miner,” she announced “and need I remind you of the terms of our agreement? To not go after Supergirl?”

“Big deal,” Chet scoffed “that little blonde ain’t no match our toys” he proclaimed

The woman nodded, looking bored

“And I suppose you want more?” she asked

“You’re damn straight,” Chet scoffed “we got a lot of jobs coming up”

The woman smirked and then gestured to the two men who’d accompanied her, both of whom unloaded a heavy case from the trunk of her car

“I’m only going remind you once, Mr. Miner, these weapons are exceedingly rare,” she cautioned as her goons set the case down and opened it, Miner grinned at what he saw lay inside “now,” the woman began “are you satisfied?”

******

“Winn!”

Winn looked up, frowning as James came over to his station

“Uh, hi,” he said “how’d you get in?” he wondered

“Being Supergirl’s boyfriend has its perks,” James dismissed “I was wondering if you had any leads on these robberies?”

“Sorta,” Winn shrugged “I mean, we’re watching two spots right now”

“Which ones?”

“Uh, well, one is the West National City Bank, which they already hit before, and the other is the Federal Reserve”

James frowned

“Which do you think they’ll go after?” he wondered

Winn shrugged

“Well, they already hit the Bank, and the Jewelry Exchange, and even an auction house for some reason, so they’re probably going to go for a bigger target” he suggested

“So the Fed” James reasoned

Winn shrugged

“I guess”

James gave him a pat on the shoulder

“Thanks, man”

Winn watched him go, flummoxed. Turning the conversation over in his head, he groaned as he realized that he’d been had

“Not pleasant is it?” Susan asked

“No,” Winn groaned as he buried his face in his keyboard “do you want to call Kara or should I?” he wondered

“Might sound better coming from you” she suggested

“Yeah,” he sighed as he pulled out his cell phone, dialing Kara’s speed dial “probably right…”

******

At exactly ten PM, a familiar SUV pulled up outside the Federal Reserve, three familiar figures recklessly charging out. Finesse and subtly were a moot point when you had their kind of firepower.

Aiming his new toy at the wall, Chet Miner grinned gleefully as the blast obliterated it in an explosion of brick and mortar

“C’mon! Let’s go!” he ordered his two goons as they quickly stormed into the building and began grabbing as much as they could. Exiting the building, one goon suddenly doubled over as a baseball bat suddenly collided with his face, a large figure in a hoodie and ski mask lunging for goon Number Two, quickly dispatching him as well

Chet Miner, however, just grinned and armed his new weapon, firing. The blast tunneled through the air towards the wannabe vigilante. Suddenly a figure in red and blue dropped down in front of the lone figure, a red cape being thrown out to deflect the blast.

Miner visibly seethed as Supergirl straightened up. Turning, he took aim at a nearby building, firing again; the front of the building instantly began to crumble. As expected Supergirl and the other figure bolted towards the building, with Supergirl struggling to hold it up, while her new partner dashing inside to usher people out, leaving Miner and his crew ample time to escape.

Now sitting behind the wheel of the SUV, Miner angrily slammed a hand down on the steering wheel

“I am _really_ starting to hate that bitch!” he snarled

******

Meanwhile, Kara felt like her back was going to break. Twisting her head around, she watched as three people hurried out of the rapidly-collapsing building

“That’s everyone!” the masked figured called out

Gasping, Kara let go, quickly shooting away as the overhang at the building’s entrance gave way, collapsing into a pile of dust, sending a billowing cloud out. Swooping down, Kara quickly scooped up the would be hero and carried him off, depositing him on a nearby rooftop, where Winn and Lucy waited

“Are you all right?” Winn asked as Kara landed

She nodded

“I’m fine,” she panted out. She rounded on the masked figure and tore his ski mask off “are you crazy?!?!” she demanded of James “you could have gotten yourself killed!!”

James turned and stared at Winn

“You told them?” he asked

“Yes! I told them!” Winn exclaimed, throwing up his hands “you, you…used me, man! And, oh yeah, _great_ disguise by the way, no one’s going to see through that!” he reached up and, much both Kara and James’ mutual surprise, smacked James upside the back of the head “idiot!” he spat

“You know we could have you _arrested_ right now?” Lucy snarled as Winn visibly fumed “forget obstruction of justice, we also have endangering civilians and yourself!” 

“What is wrong with you?!” Kara demanded

“All my life,” James sighed “I have been on the sidelines, hiding behind a camera, while the people around me go off and save the world”

“So?” Winn demanded “dude, there’s no shame in being the sidekick,” he exclaimed “we _help_ them,” he pointed to Kara “do you know how many times Kara could have died without my help? A lot!”

“Winn, honey, breathe, you’re going to hyperventilate” Lucy warned as Winn went back to fuming. Kara meanwhile, decided to try for a softer approach

“James,” she reached out and took his hands “I know you feel bad after what happened to your Dad’s camera, after getting beaten by those thugs. But…a camera can be replaced, you can’t”

James sighed and seemed to sag suddenly, running a hand over his face tiredly

“You’re right, you’re right,” he nodded with a groan “oh man, what was I thinking?”

“You were thinking about helping people,” Kara explained “nothing wrong with that, but…you can help people in other ways. That camera that you ‘hide’ behind is a powerful weapon,” she explained “your pictures can do so, so, so much _more_ than I ever could”

“She’s right,” Lucy spoke up “this may come as a surprise, but Lois once told me that you were most important member of the Daily Planet”

“She did?” James asked, surprised

Lucy nodded

“She did,” she confirmed “she told me that it was your pictures that helped take down Lex Luthor, your pictures that exposed Morgan Edge’s ties to Intergang. So if you think that you’re not doing anything to help people than you need to see a shrink”

James sighed, sagging against Kara

“Come on,” she looped around his shoulders “let’s just, go home” she suggested. He nodded dimly and allowed her to gently lift him up at the waist and quietly take off.

Once they were out of sight, Winn turned to Lucy

“Did Lois _really_ say all that stuff about him?” he wondered

“She did,” Lucy nodded “and considering she’s been gaga for Superman for the past twelve years that’s saying something”

Winn snorted

“One question” he began

“Yeah?”

“How do we get down from here?”

Lucy frowned and looked around, seeing no access ladder or other way down and off the roof

“Kara! Get your ass back here!” she hollered…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing that always bugs about James' whole Guardian thing is the timing, you notice that he didn't decide to do it until _after_ Kara broke up with him. Can you say 'feeling emasculated'? :=)


	26. Brave One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWENTY-SIX! And yes, I'm still here, folks! :=)

******

“I don’t know what happened with him” Kara sighed as she paced back and forth. Sitting on the couch watching this, Alex sighed

“Now see,” she began, pointing at Kara with her spoon before she stuck it back into the tub of ice cream in her lap “… _this_ is why I stopped dating men” she proclaimed

“Alex” Kara sighed

Alex sighed and set her ice cream on the coffee table

“C’mere,” she invited, patting the couch cushion. Kara reluctantly sat “look,” Alex sighed “I kinda get where he’s coming from. He’s always in the shadows, the people all around him can do all these amazing things, and he can’t. So, he feels unimportant, like he isn’t doing enough, like nothing he does ever actually matters”

“That’s silly” Kara scoffed

“Maybe,” Alex nodded “but it’s true,” she pointed out “I know what that feels like,” she admitted, looking away “you, Astra, J’onn. All of you can do incredible things,” she whispered “and me? Me, I’m just human, nobody really”

Kara stared at her, stunned

“Alex, you are _not_ nobody!” she exclaimed “you…you’ve done _amazing_ things. The amount of times that _you_ saved my life? I can’t even count them!”

Alex shrugged indifferently and then picked up her ice cream again and gulped down another bite

“Maybe. Maybe not” she proclaimed, as if that settled the matter…

******

“You’re not ‘nothing’.”

Alex startled at the voice, pausing at the sight of Astra sitting on her couch in the darkened living room of what was rapidly becoming ‘their’ apartment. Sighing, she dropped her keys on the table by the door and hung her jacket up on the hook

“Yeah, well, doesn’t feel like it most times” she muttered. She tensed as she felt Astra approach her, felt the other woman place her hands on her shoulders

“You are…brave,” Astra began “strong…kind…caring,” her hands gently slid down Alex’s arms to wrap around her waist pulling her close “you are everything that is good about the human race” she whispered

Alex slowly turned to face her

“When you say that,” she began “I feel like I’m starting to believe it”

Astra smiled softly

“Then I’ll keep saying it” she vowed as leaned in and gently captured the younger woman's lips...…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know, kinda short, still hope you all liked it. Let me know what you thought


	27. Black Mass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWENTY-SEVEN!

******

Chet Miner tapped his foot impatiently as he waited. He _hated_ waiting, with a vengeance

“Chet”

Turning, he rolled his eyes as the familiar sleek black car rolled up to the alleyway, the same woman climbing out

“I don’t like being summoned, Mr. Miner,” she announced she approached him “now what is it you want?”

“We need more guns” Chet stated

The woman scoffed

“I gave you everything you’ll need to complete our arrangement” she stated

“Yeah, see,” Chet began “me and the boys were thinking, people are already afraid of aliens now, so our little ‘deal’ is over. We’ve got one last payday coming up and it’s a big one”

The woman frowned, nodding slowly

“The L-Corp Charity Gala,” she guessed. She shook her head “Lena Luthor is much too high profile of a target, you’d never succeed” she declared

“Yeah right,” Chet scoffed. He drew the old, beat up, but still working nine millimeter handgun at his waist and aimed it at the woman’s face “now make with the hardware, lady!” he snarled, even as her bodyguards drew on Chet’s crew

The woman didn’t even bat an eye as she calmly stared down the barrel of the gun, nodding her head at her two bodyguards, who promptly released Chet’s boys

“Didn’t you ever wonder _why_ I’m doing this?” she wondered “it’s not out of some…blind hatred of aliens. No, I’m doing it so that my children, my son and my daughter will be safe. These creatures are a threat to everyone of this planet,” she shook her head “if you want to go after Lena Luthor, you’re welcome to, but I warn you, you’re doing it at your own risk”

With that she calmly turned around and got back in the car…

******

The L-Corp Gala was in full swing when Kara and Winn arrived. Kara as a guest of Lena Luthor, and Winn as her guest. Of course, the real reason he was there was to hopefully trap to trio of thieves assuming—which was very likely—that they decided to rob the gala.

Now, the only problem was for Kara and Supergirl to appear at the Gala at the same time

“Why didn’t you just ask Susan?” Winn whispered

“I _did_ ask her,” Kara hissed back in response “she laughed in my face and said ‘no’,” she looked around and took a breath “OK, commence ‘Operation Mrs. Doubtfire’…now!”

Winn grunted as she suddenly disappeared in a burst of superspeed, reappearing seconds later in the middle of the room as Supergirl, causing a minor round of applause from the guests. Straightening her spine as Lena Luthor herself approached, Kara shook hands with the CEO

“Glad you could make it, Supergirl” Lena greeted

“Thank you, Ms. Luthor,” Kara replied “looks like everything’s going smoothly” she commented, and it did. The guests seemed to be enjoying themselves, security was obvious, but understated

“I wonder where Ms. Danvers is” Lena mused quietly. Kara groaned inwardly and, when the CEO wasn’t looking, quickly dashed off and changed back into her civilian clothes, suddenly envious of J’onn as she slid up next to Winn

“Yeah,” Winn muttered “that won’t be suspicious,” he grumbled as Kara waved to Lena and quickly introduced her to him. Winn smiled, nodded, and shook hands with the CEO, mumbling out a generic pleasantry as he spotted James nearby. Quickly excusing himself, he made his way over to where James stood by the buffet table

“Here to fight crime?” he asked _‘wow, bitter much?’_ he thought

James chuckled, looking embarrassed

“No, no, I’m just here as a member of the community” he explained

“Good,” Winn nodded “try to keep it that way, ‘cause if something happens to you, you _know_ that Kara won’t be able to handle it” he warned

“I know” James looked down, ashamed Winn realized. Taking pity on him, he looked around

“Hey, you seen Lucy around here?” he asked “I invited here, but I don’t see her”

“Maybe she didn’t come,” James suggested “she’s not really a ‘party’ person” he added

“True,” Winn nodded. He glanced over to where Kara was, watching as she began to fend off a would be suitor’s advances “hey,” Winn nudged James and pointed “ _now’s_ your chance to be a hero”

James looked over, then set his drink down

“Thanks,” he murmured as he made his way over.

******

Kara grit her teeth

“Look,” she began “I’m not interested, I have a boyfriend, thank you very much”

“Oh, come on,” the twenty-something rich snob chuckled (she vaguely recognized him as some tech guru who made a fortune in collage) “I bet I can change your mind”

“There a problem here?”

Rich Snob turned, coming face to chest with James Olsen. Craning his neck back, he managed to look up at James, who crossed his arms “I’ll thank you not to flirt with my girlfriend” he stated

Rich Snob gulped and tried for a smile, failing miserably

“Hey…man” he tried. James’ glower increased. Realizing that he was beaten, Rich Snob quietly shuffled off

Kara grinned

“Now see?” she beamed “that’s the kind of hero you really are”

James felt his face heat up

“Do…do you want to dance?” he asked

Kara’s grin widened as she looped her arms around his neck

“Do you really have to ask?” she grinned as they softly swayed to the music, growing closer as they went. James had just leaned in for a kiss when a loud crash broke the air. Guests started screaming as three figures burst in

“All right!” Chet Miner roared “everybody put you wallets, jewelry and other valuables into the bag!” he ordered as he tossed a black duffel bag forward “otherwise…” he raised the weapon at his hip—the same one he’d used on Kara the night before—and vaporized the fountain in the center of the room

“I think I’d better change,” Kara huffed. She glanced up at James “get these people out!” she ordered “and _be careful_!” she added as she ducked off into a corner and swiftly landed in front of the three thieves with a bang

Chet Miner grinned at her

“Been waiting for a rematch” he hissed as he fired at her. Kara dodged and countered with a blast of heat vision…

******

James meanwhile was ushering as many people to safety as he could. Looking around he spotted Susan Vasquez ushering Lena Luthor under a table

“Winn!”

Winn turned and saw where James was pointing. Groaning, he pushed through the crowd and half-slid, half-rolled under the table, sitting up in surprise at what he found

“Is that…a black body generator?” he asked as he examined the device that Lena and Susan were hunched over

“It’s supposed to be,” Lena exclaimed “but it’s not working!”

“Here,” Winn shifted into a more comfortable position and examined the device “yeah, here, the—”

“…induction coil, I see it,” Lena nodded “so…if we…” she hurriedly reconnected several wires and flipped the switch.

Nothing happened.

Winn risked a glance out from under the table

“Oh…boy” he groaned as he saw that Kara seemed to be losing the heat vision/laser blast duel

“Wait,” Susan reached out and plucked a hairpin out of Lena’s hair, quickly bending it into a spiral shape and working it into the guts of the device “don’t tell anyone I did that” she muttered to Winn as the device suddenly hummed to life.

Grunting, Lena shoved it out from under the table. Instantly the device let out a blue-black shockwave, which enveloped the entire area. The weapons the three thieves were holding were suddenly ripped from their hands, colliding in midair and vanishing in a miniature vortex of light.

Kara softly landed, smirking as she assessed the three, who now were slowly started to realize that they were beaten. Chet Miner suddenly drew a handgun and fired, the bullets harmlessly ricocheting off Kara without effect. Growling in clear frustration he lunged, swinging out a fist and hitting Kara in the jaw, only to recoil back with an agonized howl as he clutched his now-injured hand

“Question,” Kara began as she easily lifted him up by his shirt front, dangling him above the floor “if bullets don’t work, what makes you think punching will?” she wondered as the guests slowly came out of hiding, many applauding as they saw Supergirl now holding one the thieves captive.

Chet’s crew turned to run only to collide with two _very large_ NCPD officers, one of the two thieves actually _bouncing_ off the cop to land flat on his ass.

“Oh, thank god’s that’s over with,”

Kara turned at Winn’s voice, watching as he, Susan and Lena all emerged from under a table. Winn blinked as he saw her staring

“Oh! No! We weren’t…” he trailed off and shook his head “never mind” he muttered…


	28. Shell Casings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWENTY-EIGHT! End of AU of "Crossfire". Enjoy! :=)

******

“I see you prevailed” Non commented as Astra walked into his cell

“We did” Astra nodded

“More poetry?” Non sneered, nodding to the book in Astra’s hand. Astra said nothing but simply opened the cell set the book down on the bench next to him

“ _‘All human wisdom is contained in these two words ‘Wait and Hope’_ ,” she recited, smirking at Non’s puzzled expression “just some food for thought” she explained as she turned and quietly slipped out of the room.

Now alone in his cell, Non glanced down at the book and picked it up, frowning at the title

__

_The Count of Monte Cristo_

Still frowning, he opened the book and began to read…

******

Chet Miner grunted as he and his crew was led to the waiting police van

“Yeah, yeah” the cop muttered

“It’s the truth!” Chet hissed “this woman just showed up one day! She knew my name, she knew the boys here! I’m telling you! Give me a deal and I’ll give you her!” he vowed

“ _I warned you not to go after Lena Luthor, Mr. Miner_ ”

Chet froze, gapping at the voice in his head

“It’s her!” he hissed “she’s in my head!”

“ _If you had listened to me, you and your associates could have lived out the rest of your lives as very rich men,_ ” the woman continued “ _as it stands now, you won’t be living much longer_ ”

Chet suddenly jerked, choking and gagging at the splitting pain in his head, dimly watching as his crew doubled over as Chet followed suit, dimly wondering if this was it as his heart stopped beating…

******

A few blocks away, the same woman calmly removed the earpiece from her head and turned off the remote control device in her hands. Settling back into the her seat, she calmly tapped on the door, signaling the driver to carry on…

******

Lena Luthor looked up as Supergirl landed on the balcony outside her office

“You set them up” she stated

Lena nodded

“I did” she acknowledged as Kara stepped into the room proper

“That was…pretty sneaky” she noted

“Yes it was,” Lena agreed “but it worked, didn’t it, Kara?”

Kara stopped, frowned, and then sighed

Lena smiled 

“Relax, I won’t tell anyone,” she assured the girl as Kara ran a hand through her hair

“There are…some papers you’ll have to sign” she finally mumbled

“Of course,” Lena nodded as a knock came at her office door, a woman—the same woman who provided Chet Miner and his men with the weaponry—came in. Lena turned back to Kara and flashed her a tight, apologetic smile “would you excuse me?”

Kara nodded

“Of course,” she said, stepping back out onto the balcony “you have a good night, Ms. Luthor” she said before taking off with a gust of air. The newcomer assessed Lena

“Interesting company you’re keeping these days” she noted

Lena sighed

“Hello, Mother” she greeted…

******

“Wait, wait, Lena _Luthor_ knows who you are?” Alex demanded

Kara sighed as she flopped back against James on the couch

“Yep”

Alex frowned and looked up at Astra

“Do I have to kill her now?” she asked

Astra snorted

“No,” she chuckled “I had J’onn do a scan of her at the Gala, she’s being truthful, she won’t willingly expose Kara or the DEO. In fact, I think she wants to help us, that’s why she told Kara she knew”

“Still suspicious,” Lucy muttered from her place by the TV “come on! Come on! Come on!” she chanted as she and Winn raced each other in _Mario Kart_

“Only time will tell,” Astra shrugged “oh, yes,” she reached into her bag and pulled out a box “James, this is for you” she announced, holding out the box towards him

“Since when you give gifts?” Alex asked “hell, since when are you and James on a first name basis?”

“We’re not” Astra replied as James took the box and opened it, Kara gasping as she saw what was inside

“Is that…?” she asked

“It’s not entirely original, I’m afraid,” Astra shrugged “try as I might I couldn’t find all the pieces, but I tried to keep it as close to the original as possible” she explained as James pulled his dad’s camera out of the box

“Thank you,” James breathed, clearly stunned “but…why…?”

“Because I know what it means to lose someone close to you,” Astra replied “because I know how precious little mementos like that become”

“You know,” Alex nudged her “you’re really just a big softy, aren’t you?”

“I plead the fifth” Astra smirked…

******

Meanwhile, Susan Vasquez slipped into the alien bar, taking note of the myriad of species inside. Taking a breath, J’onn quickly shed his human form and stepped inside, noticing that no one even batted an eye at him with the exception of a grey, ghoulish creature that gave him a growl as she passed. Shrugging, J’onn came up to the bar

The bartender, a pretty young African-American woman, was wiping down the bar as he came over

“Hi, what can I get…you…” she trailed off as she saw him, her face registering shock and surprise

“ _ **I can transform back if you want**_ ” J’onn offered

The woman blinked, shaking herself off

“No. Sorry. That’s all right,” she apologized, even as she hurriedly grabbed a bag from under the bar “actually, I’m on break, so, uh Darla can help you”

“ _ **Do I know you?**_ ” J’onn asked, the woman seemed terribly familiar for some reason

“No” she stated, turning and all but fleeing out the door. Frowning, J’onn followed her, shifting back into Susan Vasquez’s form as he did

“Hey!”

The woman stopped as Susan approached her

“Who are you?” she demanded. The other woman sighed, dropping her bag at her feet as she turned to face Susan, a familiar fiery haze surrounding her form as she did, leaving Susan to stare in shock at the female Green Martian now standing before her

“ _ **My name is M’gann M’orzz,**_ ” she introduced herself“ _ **and I am the last daughter of Mars**_ ”


	29. Survivors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those who survive are left to bear the scars of those who did not. AU of "Survivors"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWENTY-NINE

******

The stopwatch began ticking. UN inspector Carl Bridges making a mark on his clipboard as Alex’s team prepped for mock raid. Standing next to Bridges, Astra checked her watch, more out of boredom than out of a commitment to playing by the UN’s rules

“Time!” Bridges called out as the team finished gearing up. He looked up, lips twisted in a disapproving sneer as he made another mark on his clipboard “forty-five seconds slow, Agent Danvers” he reprimanded

“Inspector, if I remember the manual correctly,” Astra began “anything under two minutes was considered exceptional,” she explained as Alex signaled for her team to prepare to move out on her orders. Bridges looked up at a bark, watching as two German Shepherds and their handlers came over “natural hostile alien detectors,” Astra explained. As if to underline her statement, one of the dogs began sniffing her leg, growling softly.

Astra glowered at the dog

“I said ‘hostile aliens’. Not me” she snapped as the handler pulled the dog back. Looking displeased, Bridges held up the stopwatch again

“Begin” he ordered as the watch began ticking again

“Steady,” Alex ordered, checking her watch “not yet,” she ordered as ten seconds came and went “not yet,” she repeated as twenty seconds came and went.

The seconds continued ticking down and Alex still hadn’t ordered the team to move out. At one minute, thirty, Astra double-checked her watch and then glanced at Alex, scowling as she realized that Alex was planning on literally waiting until the last second before giving the order. Finally, at one minute, forty, Alex suddenly looked up from her watch

“Move out!” she ordered. The team broke formation, bursting through the mock field of battle and quickly finding and capturing the hostile—J’onn—in less than ten seconds. In short it was a downright textbook quality operation

“Time!” Astra called out, checking her watch “excellent. Very good, Agent Danvers” she praised

“Thank you, ma’am” Alex replied as J’onn shifted back into Susan Vasquez

Bridges, clearly unimpressed but unable to find any fault, turned to leave, only pause in the doorway, leveling a glare at Alex

“Your dogs were out of formation” he spat, before stalking out of the room

“Charming man” Astra drawled

“Yeah. Real teddy bear” Alex snorted

“Director,” Susan called out “just picked up a call from NCPD, something about a—and I’m quoting here— _‘freaky stiff’_ down by the alien bar”

Astra frowned

“Hmm, could be alien,” she mused “but I can’t leave with Bridges roaming around”

“I’ll go” Alex offered

“Hmm, afraid not,” Astra shook her head “the UN still doesn’t trust either of us, so they want us both under observation” she explained

“What about Winn and Lucy?” Susan suggested

“That could work,” Astra agreed “good idea”

“I do have those” Susan grumbled as she stalked off

Alex frowned and looked up at Astra

“Is it just me or does she seem a bit…?”

“…‘off’ lately? Yes,” Astra nodded “she’s been short-tempered and irritable since this morning” she noted

“I don’t suppose Martians get PMS?” Alex wondered

Astra snorted

“No,” she chuckled, but sobered instantly “no, this is something different, much different. As for ‘what’ it is…well, you know how tight-lipped J’onn can be”

Alex sighed

“Yeah” she agreed…

******

“You the feds?” an NCPD officer asked as Winn and Lucy climbed out of the car, Supergirl landing besides them

“That’s us,” Lucy replied “what have we got?” she asked as the officer led them to an abandoned car

“Couple of homeless guys found the body this morning,” the officer began “nobody will go near it,” he explained as he opened the trunk, reveling the corpse “figured it wasn’t a Halloween costume” he shrugged as the three took in the body

“A Syllven” Kara identified as Winn groaned and turned away

“They violent?” Lucy asked

“No,” Kara shook her head “they don’t fight, they don’t even argue”

“Well then this guy must’ve been the exception,” the officer shrugged “got months of built up scar tissue”

“Defensive wounds” Lucy noted, nodding to the corpse’s hands

“Looks like” the officer shrugged

“Hey, what’s this?” Kara asked, pointing. Frowning, Lucy snapped a pair of latex gloves and peeled back the coat the victim was wearing

“A barb?” she wondered as she wrenched the object out of the body with a grunt, earning a groan of disgust from Winn. She frowned at it and then turned to the officer “mind if we take over?” she asked

He held up his hands

“Lady, you can take it” he said, seemingly glad to be rid of the case as he quickly made his escape, calling out that ‘the feds were taking over’, there were several clear sighs of relief from the assorted officers

“Anything like this sound familiar to you?” Lucy asked, looking up at Kara

“No,” Kara shook her head “like I said, Syvllians don’t even argue”

“Maybe it was an accident,” Winn suggested “we’re not far from the bar” he shrugged

Lucy perked up, nodding

“Could be,” she agreed “somebody gets too drunk…”

“…picks a fight with this guy…” Winn nodded along

“…accidently kills him…”

“…panics…”

“And dumps the body”

They both high fived, pleased with their deduction, as Kara shook her head in disbelief…

******

Meanwhile, at the alien bar itself, J’onn, still comfortably clad in Susan Vasquez’s form, walked up the bar, clearing his throat.

M’gann M’orzz looked, smiling

“J’onn, hello” she greeted

“Hello, M’gann” J’onn nodded back politely

“Nice form,” M’gann commented “is she based on anyone?”

“Oh,” J’onn looked down at himself “no, no one. Just a form I chose at random” he explained

“Hmm,” M’gann nodded “Megan” she said, tapping her chest

“Susan Vasquez” he replied

“Ah, that’s so much more imaginative” M’gann praised

J’onn chuckled, but then frowned

“I was meaning to ask you,” he began “but…how did you…?” he trailed off as M’gann sighed

“There was a guard, a White Martian,” she began “she was different from the others. She took pity on the prisoners. Tried to get as many of us as she could out. Most of them were caught and killed by the others, but she managed to get me on to a ship that took me here” she explained

“I’ve never know one of them to show kindness to our kind” J’onn remarked

M’gann shrugged

“Like I said, she was different” she said as she turned to leave, only for J’onn to stop her

“I was wondering,” he began “but, I hoping that, now that we know each other, that we might join minds” he offered

M’gann visibly tensed and then shook her head

“I’m sorry, no” she replied, and then hurriedly made her way out…


	30. New Players

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THIRTY! Enjoy! :=)

******

Later that afternoon, Kara found herself hurrying after Cat Grant as fast as was humanly possible

“Ms. Grant…” she tried

Cat turned

“How do you know that this was alien on alien violence?” she challenged “how do you know that this wasn’t just an accident?”

Kara stopped, deflating

“Find out if it was and we’ll see,” Cat offered “but for now, the answer is ‘no’.”

******

“OK,” Winn held out the tablet PC “looks like our killer is a Bro’vak,” he began “apparently the barb is some kind of evolutionary defense mechanism. So that’s new and terrifying”

“Any of them registered?” Alex wondered

“Uh, so far, looks like only one’s registered since the Amnesty Act was passed,” he nodded “I got an address, want me to get a strike team ready?”

Alex shook her head

“No, not yet. We still don’t know if it wasn’t just a drunken accident, god knows I’ve had my share,” she scowled as Winn stared at her curiously. She shook her head “no. No strike team,” she frowned “I’ll take Lucy” she declared

“Hey,” Winn called after her “I’d like my girlfriend back in one piece, Danvers! You hear me?!”

“She’ll be fine!” Alex called back, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes…

******

The crunching was starting to get on Alex’s nerves.

“Oh my god!” she groaned “you’re worse than Kara!”

“What?” Lucy demanded around a mouthful of corn nuts “I’m just having a snack!”

“Well stop snacking, we got him” Alex announced, grabbing her gun and slipping out of the car, Lucy quickly trailing behind. The Bro’vak looked very much like Human bodybuilder. He had about a foot in height over both Alex and Lucy and was about twice as wide, his shirt barely fitting over his torso as he stopped and assessed the two women

“What do you want?” he grunted, the muscles in his neck visibly tightening as he slung his jacket over his shoulder with one gigantic hand

“We’d like talk to you,” Lucy replied, holding out her false FBI badge “FBI, mind if we talk to you for a few minutes?”

“I’m late” the Bro’vak grunted, turning to walk away, Lucy and Alex hurrying to follow him

“There was a murder last night,” Alex began “near a bar frequented by aliens”

The Bro’vak paused, turning back to face them

“So?” he grunted out “what’s that got to do with me? Lots of aliens go there,” he scoffed “it’s not exactly a secret”

“The victim was killed by a barb” Alex explained. It took less then a second for the Bro’vak’s demeanor to change. Suddenly, he shrugged his coat off and threw out his arms, barbs bursting through his skin as he swung out at the two of them.

Ducking and rolling away, Alex struggled to get her gun as the Bro’vak continued swinging out; his movements were wild, almost panicked. With a yell, Lucy suddenly charged, slamming into his legs and sweeping them out from under him, sending him to the pavement in an inelegant sprawl.

Grunting, Alex quickly got her feet, pulling out her cuffs as she did, only to hear a loud _pop_ followed by a sudden, sharp burning pain surging through her. Gagging, she flopped onto the pavement, seeing two blurry figures in full body armor tasing Lucy and the Bro’vak as well. Throwing a net over the Bro’vak, the two thugs began to unceremoniously drag him towards a van that had swiftly pulled up to the curb

“No!” the Bro’vak kicked and tore at the net to no avail “please!” he pleaded, looking back towards Alex and Lucy desperately “ _ **DON’T LET THEM TAKE ME!!!**_ ” he screamed as he thrown into the van as it sped off.

Coughing, Alex struggled over to Lucy, who was weakly sitting up

“That was fun,” Lucy coughed out weakly “what’s next?”

******

“Oh yeah, ‘she’ll be fine’!” Winn spat as he examined Lucy as she lay on a gurney in the DEO’s infirmary

“Will you stop?” she swatted his hands away “unless you got a medical degree and haven’t told me, I don’t want anyone else touching me right now” she added. Now looking even more upset than before, Winn stepped back and glared daggers at Alex, who admittedly wasn’t exactly feeling her best either at the moment as Kara hovered protectively over her bedside

“Are we sure it wasn’t Cadmus?” Astra asked as she and Susan both stood by the door and scowled

Alex shook her head and then regretted it. Swallowing and determined to _not_ throw up, she managed to answer

“It didn’t look like Cadmus’ usual MO,” she began as she painfully sat up “but they were pros. Full body armor and paramilitary training”

“It looked like it was well-planned,” Lucy added as she too sat up “like maybe they’ve done it before”

“Great,” Astra sighed “do we have _any_ leads?”

“No,” Winn shook his head “NCPD found a van on the side of the road matching their descriptions. It was torched, extra crispy”

“This is no time for jokes, Winn!” Susan suddenly snarled, a faint tint of red shimmering in her otherwise normally brown eyes as she angrily slammed a hand into the wall, cracking the cement

The others stared at her as she took a harsh breath and stalked out of the room without a word…

******

Susan looked up as Astra, Alex, and Kara all followed her out of the infirmary, Astra smoothly gripping her arm as she came up to her

“My office, now,” she ordered, pulling Susan around the corner. Once all four of them were safely behind Astra’s office door, she turned to the Martian “would you care to explain your behavior just now, Agent Vasquez?” she demanded

“My name isn’t ‘Vasquez’.” Susan sighed as she stared out the window overlooking Command

“OK, _something_ is bothering you,” Alex pointed out “you’ve been…grumpy since this morning,” she exclaimed “so, come on, tell us what’s wrong?”

Susan clenched her jaw, but said nothing

“Don’t make me pout” Kara warned

“She’s really good at it” Alex pitched in, smirking

“Very good at it,” Astra added, smirking. She frowned at Susan “J’onn?” she encouraged

“I went to that…alien bar you mentioned last night,” Susan began “and I met…,” she shook her head in clear disbelief “I met another Green Martian there” she finished

The others stared at her

“What?” Astra asked

“I met another Green Martian,” Susan repeated. She let out a breathless laugh “I’m not the last one”

“J’onn…that’s incredible” Alex breathed

“Not really,” Susan sighed “I…made a mistake; I offered to…to…join with her. In the Martian way”

“That seems…a little extreme” Alex commented hesitantly

“It’s a telepathic link, Alex” Astra sighed, clearly rolling her eyes

“It was how we communicated on Mars,” Susan explained “sharing thoughts, emotions, hiding nothing from each other. Can you imagine that?” she wondered “a world without…hate? Without fear? A world where you _always know_ that you’re _never_ truly alone?”

“It sounds beautiful” Kara breathed

“It was,” Susan nodded “make no mistake; I’m glad to you three in my life. But…to be as I was truly meant to be…” she trailed off, lapsing into contemplative silence

“J’onn,” Astra began “have tried…talking to her?” she suggested “maybe she was just as shocked as you were” she shrugged

“Maybe” Susan nodded slowly…


	31. Fight Club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Enjoy! :=)

******

“Wow,” James commented “so, J’onn’s not the last Green Martian, huh?”

“Looks like,” Kara nodded. She frowned “did you ever meet J’onn?” she wondered

James shook his head

“No, Clark mentioned him once or twice, mostly as the person he had watching over Astra, but even then he was pretty vague about it,” he explained

Kara frowned thoughtfully

“Why do you ask?” James wondered

“Oh no reason, I was just wondering,” Kara explained. She turned to her papers and her uncompleted story, suddenly having a distinct lack of interest in finishing it at the moment “hey, how are you doing?” she asked “you know, since the whole…baseball bat…thing?”

James blushed and nodded

“I’m, I’m doing good,” he replied “still…feeling…”

“…like you’re not doing enough?” Kara suggested

James nodded

“Yeah, something like that,” he sighed. He frowned suddenly “hey, you said that the alien who killed the Syllven was abducted right?” Kara nodded “what species was he again?”

“A Bro’vak” Kara answered as James stood up and reached for his phone, dialing a number

“Come on, come on,” he muttered “Lois! It’s James,” he suddenly winced and pulled the phone away from his ear as the distinct sound of a woman angrily yelling filtered out, Kara could clearly make out the words ‘organ removal’ and ‘a spoon’, and wondered just what Lois was saying

“Yes, ye, I know it’s late in Metropolis,” James apologized “yes, yes, I’m sorry to wake you…Lois…Lois…Lois…Lois!” he paused “OK, thank you. Listen, do you remember a few years ago when we investigating that underground club? Yes, right, the one connected to Intergang. Do you still have those files? You do? Great, can you e-mail them to me and Kara? Yes, right now…OK, thanks,” he sighed as he ended the call “she’s e-mailing them right now” he explained

“Sounds like she wasn’t very happy” Kara noted

“Well, in her defense it is three AM in Metropolis” James shrugged as he laptop chirped, a new e-mail appearing with an attachment. Clicking on it, James opened it

“Huh,” Kara commented as she read the e-mail “ _‘next time you call me at 3am Olsen I’m having Kara rip out your lower intestine’_. That’s…friendly” she noted as James opened the attachment, scrolling through the files

“Where is it?” he muttered “ah-ha! Right there!” he pointed to a name…

******

“Roulette,” Astra sighed as she examined the papers that Kara had brought with her “now there’s a name I haven’t heard in awhile”

“So, who is this guy?” Alex wondered

“We don’t know,” Astra shrugged “no one does. Roulette could be a man, woman, or even a group of people. All we do know is largely based on rumor and hearsay,” she explained “I first heard about Roulette when Fort Rozz first crashed. Apparently, whoever they are, they don’t discriminate between aliens and humans, at least when it comes to earning a buck”

“According to James,” Kara pitched in “he and my cousin were investigating this…underground gambling club in Metropolis which was run by Roulette. All very hush-hush, no invitations, no cell phones, that kind of thing”

“So what happened?” Alex wondered

Kara sighed

“Someone killed the story. Apparently a lot of the people at the club were very rich and influential, and they put pressure on Perry White to kill the story”

“Makes sense,” Astra nodded “whoever Roulette is probably has friends in high places, people who them favors. Politicians, businessmen”

“So what do we know now that can help us?” Alex wondered

“Uh, well,” Winn came over “I did some digging and I found something interesting,” he held out the tablet PC “there’s some kind of ‘event’ happening tonight right here in National City” he explained 

“If this whole thing is all underground, how’d you find out about it?” Alex asked

“Found some sort of…alien groupie website on the dark web,” Winn explained “there was a chat room discussion talking about ‘Roulette’s show’ which is happening tonight. _And_ features some ‘exotic’ entertainment”

“Great,” Alex nodded “so we could either be walking into a room with our missing Bro’vak or a brothel”

Winn shook his head

“Don’t think it’s a brothel, the chat discussion mentions something about how ‘the last guy got his ass kicked’. So, you know, that doesn’t sound like a brothel to me”

Astra took the tablet from him, frowning thoughtfully as she scrolled through the information before she looked up at Alex, smirking

“It says here that’s its black tie,” she remarked “care for a night out on the town?”

Alex grinned

“I thought you’d never ask…”

******

The ‘event’ (which was apparently was the generic code used to describe whatever went on at Roulette’s gatherings) was being held in an old warehouse near the old port. Scheduled to begin at exactly twelve midnight, Alex and Astra arrived by air at eleven fifty, landing near a row of very expensive cars

“Look at this,” Alex hissed as she smoothed out her dress “just _one_ of these cars costs more than I make in a year”

“Was that your way of asking for raise?” Astra wondered as another car slid up “here we go” she muttered as she quickly scooped Alex up and landed behind the couple getting out of the car, both of them adjusting the masquerade masks on their faces

“I told you we should have left earlier!” the woman gripped

“And I told you—” her male companion began only be cut off as Astra swiftly knocked him out with a light tap to his head, repeating the process on the woman before she even had time to notice what had happened

“Well now,” Astra began as she slipped the woman’s mask off “I’ll be damned, the mayor’s sister”

“I know this guy too,” Alex nodded “he’s the head of a bank”

“So it would seem that Roulette is attracting the rich and shameless of the world to her circle,” Astra remarked “well, now we know who pressured Perry White into killing James’s story,” she held out one of the masks to Alex “here, must be some kind of dress code”

“Makes sense,” Alex commented as they each slipped the masks on “can’t have all your high society friends having something to gossip about”

“Or, more likely, having something to blackmail you with” Astra reasoned

Alex frowned as she straightened the mask and looked Astra up and down

“OK, how is it that you can make _anything_ you wear look good?” she demanded, gesturing to Astra’s knee-length dress, which shimmered with a green-silver pattern resembling fish scales

Astra smirked

“It’s called ‘class’, darling. Some people have it, and some don’t,” she explained “besides, you don’t look too bad yourself” she added, gesturing to Alex’s own simple deep blue dress with a plunging neckline that went down _just enough_ to show just the barest hint of cleavage.

Alex felt herself flush at the complement and looped her arm with Astra’s

“Come on, let’s get this show on the road” she grumbled…

******

Inside they found that the warehouse had been converted into a dinning room. Tables were arranged around a large octagonal area in the center of the room. The ‘guests’ were milling about, socializing and hobnobbing as Alex and Astra found a table in an unobtrusive corner and sat down

“Plastic” Astra commented quietly as she plucked a champagne flute off a tray held by a passing waiter

“What?” Alex asked

“The glassware, it’s plastic” Astra explained

Alex glanced around their table, fingering the tablecloth and the centerpiece

“A _lot_ of things are plastic,” she noted, frowning “I don’t get it. Plastic cups and glasses, but…its catered”

“It ‘looks’ catered, you mean” Astra pointed out as the doors shut with an audible _thud_ , the lights quickly dimming while a lone spotlight suddenly shone on what looked like catwalk or runway set up in a corner

“They came from the stars,” a woman’s voice began over a speaker system “crossing thousands of light-years,” the voice continued as a figure began to walk down the runway as actual sparklers kicked off on either side, like some kind of cheap magic show in Vegas “did they come to conquer? No” the voice asked rhetorically as it became clear that the speaker and the figure were one and the same as a woman in a long red dress slinked her way down the runway towards the end, a wireless microphone on her head

“Did they come to save us?” she asked as she reached the end of the catwalk, two muscle-bound pretty boys each taking one of her hands and lifting her up and down onto the floor “neither,” she continued, she paused for dramatic effect, the crowd hanging to her every word “no,” she began “they came…to entertain,”

The crowd burst into wild applause, some actually hooting as she slinked past them towards the octagonal area in the center of the room 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the woman began “for your amusement, there are no rules in my cage tonight,” she tuned to face the crowd “two enter, but only one leaves the winner!”

The crowd burst into raucous applause as the lights over what Alex and Astra now knew be a ring lit up, allowing the crowd a full view of what was inside

“It’s a goddamn cage match” Astra growled

“Worse,” Alex realized “it’s a fight club” she hissed as she noticed the armed guards roaming the aisles “Astra…”

“I see them” Astra nodded as the woman began speaking again

“First up,” she announced “our former champion, Bro’vak!” a door slid open and the missing Bro’vak was forcibly shoved out into the ring as a spotlight shone down on him as he quickly scrambled to his feet, facing the opposite door, waiting for his opponent as the woman swept her hand in a wide, melodramatic gesture “and his opponent. Last of her kind. Daughter of a red planet,”

Alex and Astra both frowned at each other worriedly at that particular descriptor

“Miss. Martian!”

The opposite door slid open and a woman stepped out, quickly shifting into a female Green Martian as the Bro’vak lunged. The female Martian quickly phased through him, gripping the back of his shirt and viciously slamming him into the cage, sparks shooting out as he collapsed to the ground, groaning

“Well,” the host began, clearly disappointed “its seems we have a winner,” she announced as two guards came into the ring and unceremoniously dragged the semi-conscious Bro’vak out “our next contender….Dreega!” a large grey-skinned alien suddenly charge out one of the doors, towering a good foot over the Green Martian

“We need backup” Alex hissed just as part of the rear wall suddenly exploded apart, Kara angrily marching into the room

“Ask, and you shall receive” Astra quipped as the fighter, Dreega, turned to Kara, looming over her

“ _I never killed a Kryptonian before_ ” he (she?) hissed in a whisper-like rasp as he lunged for Kara, easily backhanding her across the 

“Hey!” a voice grunted from behind Alex and Astra as two guards surround them.

Astra slipped off her mask and glanced at Alex

“Would you like the honor or may I?” she asked as Alex slipped off her own mask

“Nah, you can have it” she grinned

“Thank you, darling”

The two guards looked at each, confused, clearly wondering why both women weren’t taking the situation more seriously as Astra calmly stood up and promptly picked up one of the two and hurled him across the room to collide with Dreega, knocking them both to the ground

“THIS IS A RAID!!!!” Astra bellowed as the guests promptly panicked and scattered. Taking advantage of the confusion, Alex quickly elbowed the guard on her right in the throat, stealing his gun and charging for the ring, firing off a series of shots at the generator for the fencing, sparks shooting out before she tore open the gate and rushed to Kara’s limp form

“Hey,” Kara greeted weakly as Alex crouched down next to her “fancy seeing you here” she grinned weakly as Astra came up behind them

“Come on,” Alex said as she began to lift Kara up “let’s get you out of here…”


	32. Raw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THIRTY-TWO! Enjoy! :=)

******

“Aliens fighting aliens for Human entertainment,” Astra spat disgustedly, lips twisted into a revolted sneer “not even Cadmus would stoop this low” she growled as she and Alex stood vigil over a dozing Kara, who now lay on the sunbed in the DEO infirmary, recovering from her beating by Dreega, one her hands now tightly clutched in each of Alex and Astra’s, while James Olsen held Kara’s other hand in his own, keeping silent and allowing Alex and Astra to talk without intruding.

“Well, at least we know who Roulette is now,” Alex sighed. She looked up through the glass towards Susan, who was talking with Winn as they both hunched over a tablet “have you told J’onn yet?” Alex wondered softly

“No,” Astra shook her head as she followed Alex’s gaze “I haven’t had the courage to,” she explained, smirking humorlessly “I’m not brave like you, remember?”

“You’re not a coward either” Alex reminded her as Susan herself walked in, Winn and Lucy trailing behind

“How’s Kara?” Susan asked

“Sleeping, go away” Kara grumbled from the sunbed, opening one eye and grinning at the Martian as she automatically gave James’ hand a light squeeze, smiling at him as she did so

“Well, I’m glad to see that your sense of humor hasn’t been injured,” Astra noted with a smirk. She looked up at Winn “agent Schott, anything more on this…alien fight club?” she asked

“Hmm, no, not yet,” Winn answered, muffling a yawn “can we go home now?” he asked around a large yawn

“Yeah, ditto,” Lucy agreed with a tired groan “I’m still all…tingly from that Taser” she added

“You can go,” Astra nodded “just remember to sign out first” she called out after them as they both all but sprinted from the room, suddenly full of energy.

Kara looked up at the three women standing be her bedside, frowning

“They’re…not going home are they?” she asked

“Probably not,” Susan smirked “Lucy’s practically screaming inside her head about a bar or gastro pub over on Liberty Avenue” she explained

Astra and Alex both frowned at each other before turning to Kara and James

“Would you excuse us?” Astra asked, swiftly leading Alex and Susan out of the room and up to her office

“Hmm, called into your office twice in one day,” Susan smirked “I feel like the class troublemaker” she remarked as Alex shut the door

“J’onn,” she began “we have something to tell you”

Susan looked between the two women, not needing telepathy to note how uneasy they both were

“All right…” she nodded slowly

Alex sighed and raked a hand through her hair

“We saw a Green Martian at the fight tonight” she began

“Well it certainly wasn’t me” Susan smirked

“It was a _female_ Green Martian” Astra explained

Susan froze, a clear expression of shock on her face

“What?” she hissed

“She looked like she was…an active participant in this travesty” Astra continued

“They call her ‘Miss Martian’,” Alex explained. She cringed “J’onn…I’m so sorry” she breathed, awkwardly putting a hand Susan’s shoulder

Susan slowly reached up, putting her hand over Alex’s and patting it gently

“Not as sorry as I am” she replied grimly…

******

NC Bar & Grill was already packed when Winn and Lucy made it through the doors

“You know we just lied to our boss, right?” Winn asked “Astra’s probably going to…,” he trailed off “I don’t know _what_ she’ll do to us, but it won’t be fun”

“Relax,” Lucy dismissed “it’ll be fine. Besides, after getting a Taser in my ass, I think I deserve some fun, don’t you?”

“Yeah sure,” Winn shrugged “just…you know…I’d like to have some fun that’ll let me keep my job” he explained as she signaled for the bartender…


	33. Roulette

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THIRTY-THREE! Enjoy! :=)

******

“I can hear you thinking” Astra sighed into the darkness as Alex tossed and turned for the fifth time

Alex sighed in response

“Just…there’s so much that we _can’t_ do” she groaned

“Meaning?” Astra asked

“Just…,” Alex waved a hand vaguely “if there were more of us, more people like Kara; we could have shut down that club tonight no problem”

“Yes, we could have,” Astra agreed “and we could have also gotten dozens of people hurt of killed. There is a reason that vigilantism is illegal, and it’s not because cops don’t like the competition. The only reason—the _only_ reason—that Kara and Clark haven’t been arrested dozens of times over is because people are in awe of them, because they have so much good publicity that it outweighs the detractors,” she shifted, rolling over onto her side to face Alex “have you ever heard of the ‘Batman’?” she asked

Alex shook her head

“No”

“I’m not surprised,” Astra shrugged “anyway, he’s a vigilante in Gotham City. I met him a few months before I took over the DEO, he’s…a very interesting character to put it mildly,” she shook her head “unlike Clark, or Kara, he’s less concerned with saving innocent lives than he is with _punishing_ those who commit crimes,” she reached out and took Alex’s hand “because that’s the difference, today, Kara was more concerned with stopping the fight than she was in punishing the bad guys” she explained.

Alex sighed, squeezing Astra’s hand tightly, and said nothing…

******

Winn had an ice pack to his head as he studied the screen before him. Never again, he vowed

“Agent Schott!”

Winn jumped at Astra’s voice, wincing as he quickly put down the icepack

“Yes, ma’am, I’m good, not hungover” he mumbled out as Astra approached his terminal

“An interesting police report just came across my desk this morning, Mr. Schott,” she began as she leaned against the desk “it seems that a woman, who may have been a U.S. federal agent, assaulted two men in a bar last night”

“Wha, wasn’t me,” Winn groaned, wincing at the lights “and, and Lucy’s _fine_ ” he added quickly

Astra smiled suddenly. It wasn’t a pretty smile. In fact, it was the kind of smile that had Winn suddenly measuring his life expectancy in minutes, not years

“Really?” she asked “then would you care to explain to me just _why_ my deputy director is currently hunched over a toilet in the restroom?”

Winn groaned

“We had some drinks last night” he finally admitted

“ ‘Some’?” Astra echoed skeptically “from the way you look, I’d say that you’d had a fair amount of alcohol,” she leveled a glower at him that didn’t need heat vision to make him feel like a pile of ash “need I remind you, _agent_ Schott, that the DEO is a _secret_ organization? That its operatives are encouraged to keep a _low profile_? All it takes is one agent—not even an alien—doing or saying something out of turn and all our hard work is for naught,” she sighed and seemed to take a modicum of pity on him “that being said, you won’t be reprimanded for this. Just…try to exercise moderation next time?”

Winn nodded, wincing at the bout of nausea that action produced

“Yes, ma’am” he mumbled

“Hey, has anybody—whoa, what happened to you?” Alex suddenly came over, frowning as she studied Winn “wow, you look like crap” she noted

“Thank you,” Winn sneered “I saw the mirror this morning” he groaned

“Well, I was going to ask has anybody seen Lucy this morning, but I think I know the answer” Alex muttered

“Last I saw her she was in the restroom” Astra explained

“Hey,” Winn began “has, have either of you seen Susan?” he nodded towards Susan’s terminal, which was oddly empty…

******

At that moment, M’gann M’orzz jerked up as a crackling orange-red figure suddenly phased through her apartment door

“Knock why don’t you!” she spat as the figure formed into Susan Vasquez

“You’ve known about these fights for a long time, haven’t you?” she growled as she approached M’gann “that was why you refused the Bond, isn’t it? Because you were afraid of what I’d find out”

“What would you have done?” M’gann asked in a tired voice

“I would have stopped them, of course!” Susan spat

“Well, maybe I don’t want to stop,” M’gann countered “I’m not a slave, I’m not some…milk cow like Roulette’s other fighters, I’m doing this because I _want_ to”

“M’gann, we are the last,” Susan sighed “we have a responsibility to—”

“No,” M’gann interrupted “all you want to do is remember. I don’t. Mars is _dead_ J’onn!” she spat “now, get out! And use the door this time!” she ordered

Susan sighed, seemingly resigned as she turned to leave

“You know,” she paused at the door “I would have expected this kind of behavior from White Martian. Not from one of my own people”

M’gann sighed

“J’onn….wait,” she called out as Susan was about to slip through the open door. Susan paused, turning back to look at M’gann expectantly “Roulette,” M’gann began “her real name is ‘Veronica Sinclair’, that’s all I know”

Susan said nothing, merely nodding silently as she stepped through the door and firmly shut behind her…

******

“OK,” Winn winced as he nursed a large bottle of water as he frowned at his tablet “Veronica Sinclair, uh…heiress to the ‘Sinclair Trust’, which is like the mother of all pharmaceutical companies, uh…that’s…it. That’s all there is”

“That’s it?” Alex asked “nothing else?”

“No, doesn’t look like it” Winn shook his head

“How is that possible?” Lucy asked

“Actually, it’s surprisingly easy,” Astra pitched in “it’s simply a matter of both keeping a low profile, and having connections in the right places to ensure that it stays that way”

“Makes sense why we haven’t heard of her until now” Kara grumbled

“There is some good news, though,” Winn added “I might know _where_ she is. She’s on the guest list for some charity dinner being held tonight” he explained…

******

A few hours later and night had fallen on the city; most of the streets were empty with the exception of one sleek, expensive limousine, which swung around a corner before suddenly skidding to a stop as a blast of heat vision suddenly set the asphalt aflame, the flames quickly encircling the limo as Kara floated above the street while Astra stood a few feet inside the circle.

The rear door of the limo opened, Veronica ‘Roulette’ Sinclair stepping out and calmly assessing the floating Kryptonian

“The fights stop now” Kara declared

“Oh do they?” Roulette asked with a slight laugh “and how do you propose to stop me? Let’s be honest, Supergirl, no one cares about aliens. No one expect me, perhaps”

“You have an interesting way of showing that ‘care’.” Astra noted

Roulette glanced at her, studying her, and then seemingly dismissing her with a slight shiver as she turned back to Kara

“See, I’m not forcing them to come,” she explained “oh no, they come willingly, because I give them what they want, I make them matter, all my rich friends are willing to pay top dollar to see a new champion rise to the top”

“And what happens to the ‘old’ champion?” Astra demanded

Roulette finally addressed her

“There are no ‘old’ champions, just new contenders in new ventures” she replied

“You mean your fighters find new ways of debasing themselves for your entertainment” Astra spat

“What you call ‘debasing’ I call ‘enterprising’,” Roulette countered “all a matter of perspective….General”

With that ominous comment she turned around and climbed back into the limo, the limo pulling away seconds later…


	34. Championship Match

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THIRTY-FOUR!! Enjoy! :=)

******

“This is bad!” Kara exclaimed as she paced in front of the operations table at the DEO, where Astra, Alex and Susan were all gathered around “this is really bad!” she added “she _knows_ who you are!”

“Not exactly,” Astra shrugged as she examined the papers in her hands “did you notice how she never looked directly at me?” she looked up at Kara and Alex “she knows who I am, and that _scares_ her, terrifies her in fact,” she put down the paperwork and turned to face the sisters directly “as you know, when Fort Rozz crashed the prisoners scattered. Weaker prisoners, those who lived in terror of other, more dangerous prisoners, spread tales—albeit exaggerated—about how they’d survived, boasting about this prisoner or that prisoner”

“And it snowballed,” Alex guessed “each person who heard embellished it, until it became…” she trailed off, shaking her head

Astra nodded

“Precisely. And by the time we find them, the stories have all become so distorted its hard—downright impossible even—to separate fact from fantasy,” she spread the papers she was still holding out over the operations table “now. On a brighter note, I found something _very interesting_ about Ms. Sinclair” she explained as Kara and Alex both leaned in to read the papers, Alex scoffing out a disbelieving laugh

“So _that’s_ why everything was cheap plastic! She’s broke!”

“Flat broke,” Astra confirmed “the Sinclair Trust exists only in name now, the family fortune was squandered away by her father in a series of very bad bets, including—most notably—to a gentleman named ‘Tony ‘the wrench’ Luzano’.”

“Sounds like a nice guy” Kara commented

“Very nice,” Astra drawled “apparently two of Mr. Luzano’s ‘friends’ broke Henry Sinclair’s spine in four places. And that was _after_ he was hit by a garbage truck. Twice”

“So, what happened with Roulette?” Kara wondered

Astra slid forward several more papers

“Police reports, most of which were never followed up on,” she explained “but it seems that Ms. Sinclair had a habit of hitting her maids when they didn’t do what she wanted”

“And now she’s moved on to using aliens” Alex sighed

“So it would seem,” Astra agreed with a sigh as she drummed her fingers on the tabletop “and unfortunately, that is all we have” she proclaimed tiredly

“I know someone who might know more” Susan growled out…

******

M’gann looked up as Susan Vasquez rounded the corner, blocking her way back into the bar from the dumpster out back

“I told you to leave me alone, J’onn” she sighed

“And I told you that I’m going to stop these fights” Susan countered

M’gann shook her head

“You don’t _know_ Roulette,” she exclaimed “she’s dangerous. She treats aliens like _playthings_ ”

“Funny,” Susan chuckled darkly “you told me that you weren’t like them. So…does that mean that you’re _not_ a plaything?”

M’gann sighed

“J’onn… _please_ ,” she pleaded “just drop it”

“I’m not going to allow some rich people—alien or otherwise—abuse living creatures for entertainment!” Susan snarled “now you are going to—” she broke off, gasping and falling to her knees as a Taser crackled in the distance. Weakly looking up as her cell phone clattered on the asphalt she saw a woman in a long red dress with a large serpentine tattoo winding down her body approach.

Smirking triumphantly, she leered down at Susan

“Two Green Martians?” she mused rhetorically “ _now_...we have a championship match…”

******

“We’ve got a problem,” Alex announced as she marched into Command “Susan hasn’t reported in”

“Damn it,” Astra hissed “I should never have let J’onn go out alone,” she angrily raked a hand through her hair “with this other Green Martian I was worried about his objectivity”

“I’ll send Kara to the location of the last fight,” Alex nodded “it’s a long shot, but…”

“Good,” Astra nodded “Agent Schott, starting pinging Agent Vasquez’s cell phone and her sub-dermal tracker”

“Got it” Winn called back

“Agent Lane,” Lucy looked up at Astra’s call “assemble a strike team to mobilize the moment we know where our missing Martian is”

“Yes, ma’am”

“Kara’s on her way” Alex reported…

******

“Alex?” Kara called out as she stormed into the warehouse where the last fight had been held “you were right, the place has been cleared out; it’s like it never happened”

“ _Damn it!_ ” Alex hissed over the comms. She sighed “ _we’re still trying to pick up her sub-dermal tracker_ ” she explained

Kara grinned as the proverbial lightbulb suddenly went off over her head

“I think I know someone who can help” she announced…

******

Meanwhile, Veronica Sinclair stood before her adoring crowds, this was the largest yet, and the most raucous, the fight had yet to even begin and they were already baying for blood

“Ladies and gentlemen,” she began “tonight, for your entertainment, a championship match unlike any other. On the left, the reigning champion, Miss Martian!”

The crowd roared their approval as the door swung open, M’gann confidently strutting out in her human guise as she stood awaiting her opponent

“And on the right,” Roulette continued “her opponent….the Martian Manhunter!”

The opposing door swung open with a showy pyrotechnic display, J’onn—still clad in Susan Vasquez’s form—marched out, lips curling disgust as the crowds roared hollered for more

“Tonight,” Roulette proclaimed “a championship match like none seen here before. Martian versus Martian, each for the title of sole victor, of being proclaimed the _true_ Last Green Martian, in a fight to the death”

The crowd bayed and howled like the animals they truly were beneath the veneer of wealth and propriety as M’gann stared at Roulette in clear shock

“I won’t kill her!” she proclaimed

Roulette spun on her heel, a brief look of annoyance crossing her face as she no doubt took umbrage to her fighters questioning her authority

“Oh yes you will,” she predicted. She turned back to the crowd “ladies and gentlemen, place your bets now” she announced as M’gann shifted into her Green Martian form and she and Susan began circling each other

“ _ **Why don’t you change?**_ ” she demanded of J’onn

“My true face is mine to show only to those I desire to show it to,” J’onn explained “them and no one else”

M’gann snarled in annoyance as she suddenly lunged, slamming into J’onn and hurtling him into the wall. Grunting, he shed Susan Vasquez’s form and, for a moment, merely stood there, assessing M’gann

“ _ **So be it**_ ” he declared tiredly, just before he lunged, the two Martians colliding in mid-air…


	35. Second Chances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Chapter THIRTY-FIVE!

******

Lena Luthor looked up from her paperwork, frowning as Kara hurriedly landed on her balcony

“Kara? Is everything all right?” she asked as she got up and approached Kara

“No, not really,” Kara huffed out “a friend of mine is missing, we think she was abducted by someone named ‘Veronica Sinclair’ and I was hoping—” she stopped as Lena held up a hand

“Veronica Sinclair?” she asked “otherwise known as ‘Roulette’?” she shook her “I know her, used to boarding school with her in fact. Never liked her,” she stepped back over to her desk and, grabbing a piece of paper, wrote something down “I also know about her so-called ideas of ‘entertainment’,” she explained, handing the paper to Kara “go. Save your friend” she encouraged

Kara looked down at the paper, seeing that it was an address

“Thank you” she sighed

“Good luck” Lena called out as Kara took off…

******

J’onn grunted as M’gann pinned him to the floor, the crowd still cheering all the while

“You don’t get it, do you?” he panted out as he shifted back into Susan Vasquez “you said it yourself, you’re not fighting for money, for fame and fortune,” she shook her head “no. You’re fighting because you think that you _deserve_ it. That this is your penance for surviving,” she shook her head “I once thought like you, I hid, I ran, changing my face each day and night. But, a wise woman once told me that there is no shaming in surviving, there is no shame in having lived,” she reached out, gently placing her hand on M’gann’s cheek “a good man died to save her life, he laid down his life to defend someone who wasn’t Human. And like her, you were given a second chance. Don’t throw it away”

Slowly, M’gann released her, stepping back and shifting back into her Human guise as offered a hand to Susan. Taking the offered hand, Susan allowed herself to be pulled up. Standing side-by-side, the two Martians turned to face Roulette

“It’s over!” Susan proclaimed “you _lose_ , Sinclair”

“Well,” Roulette began “we’ll see about. Meet your opponent…Dreega”

With a crash a third cage suddenly burst open, the large, stone-skinned creature that Kara had faced during the last fight stormed out and advanced upon the two Martians.

With a crash, Kara suddenly burst from the ceiling, shooting down at a forty-five degree angle to slam into Dreega, sending him back into his cage as she collided with him. Turning, she rushed over to Susan

“You OK?” she asked

“I should be asking you that,” Susan countered. She pointed behind Kara “he’s getting up” she announced as Dreega suddenly let out a ear-splitting roar and charged for the three…


	36. Winners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THIRTY-SIX

******

As Kara and J’onn and M’gann fought with Dreega, the assembled guests were suddenly tore away from their show as the doors suddenly burst open, Alex and a full DEO tactical team bursting into the room

“Spread out!” Alex ordered “EVERYONE STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!! THIS IS A RAID!!!” she bellowed as she and the team began to swiftly corral and cuff the startled patrons

“You’re making a big mistake” the man Alex was currently cuffing snarled as she forced him over a table and wrenched his hands behind his back “by the time I’m through with you, you won’t be able to get a job as a garbage worker!” he snarled

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex muttered as she tightened the cuffs and shoved him towards another agent. Looking up at the ring, she tapped her comm. “Astra? We got a problem” she announced as Dreega easily tossed J’onn and M’gann aside like paperdolls before slamming Kara into the ground

“ _I see it,_ ” Astra replied “ _stay at your job, I’ll help her_ ” she ordered

“Copy that”

******

Kara sat up with a groan, wincing as the force of the last blow still rippled and reverberated through her bones, at least it felt like it anyway. Looking around, she saw both J’onn and M’gann laying on the floor a few feet away, both too stunned to help her as Dreega advanced on her

“ _Kara!_ ” Astra’s voice suddenly called out over her comm.

“Aunt Astra! I could use some help over here!” Kara panted out as she just barely dodged the next blow

“ _I saw Dreega fight once,_ ” Astra began “ _he took a blade to the leg during the bout, it hit a nerve cluster just below the knee. He’s favored his right ever since_ ” she explained

Panting for breath, Kara quickly x-rayed Dreega’s left leg, finding a misfiring nerve cluster just below the knee, right where Astra said it would be

“Thanks,” Kara panted out as she got to her feet “I got it from here” lunging, she ducked down under Dreega’s next blow, slamming her fist right into the nerve cluster as she did. Dreega suddenly arched his back, eyes bulging from his head as he gurgled in pain before suddenly collapsing to the floor moaning and whimpering in pain as Alex burst into the ring

“Hey, you OK?” she asked

Taking a breath, Kara looked up, frowning

“Where’s Roulette?” she asked

“ _ **I got her,**_ ” M’gann answered as she awkwardly stood up, shifting back into Human form as she helped J’onn to his feet. She nodded politely at the sisters “M’gann M’orzz” she introduced herself

“Alex and Kara” Alex replied as she helped Kara to her feet

“We just going to stand around all day or are we going to catch her?” Susan wondered as she shifted back into her true form. Turning and marching out of the room, he barked out behind him “ _ **today, people**_ ”

Hurrying after him, they found and cornered Roulette in a loading dock, pausing as other fighters suddenly blocked their path. Roulette smirking smugly from behind the virtual wall of aliens surrounding her protectively

“You see?” she commented “they know who treats them well”

“Do they now?” Astra asked as she softly landed between Kara and Alex. She assessed the row fighters “so, you all stand with her?” she wondered “you’re all willing to go out and fight to death so some rich Human can get a thrill?” she shook her head “you’re pathetic!” she spat “all of you! You’re nothing but spineless outcasts, wallowing in self-pity! You don’t do this for fame, you don’t it for fortune. You do it because you think that’s all you can do,” she shook her head “but you’re wrong. _We_ ,” she gestured between herself and Kara and Alex “…are _not_ the enemy here. People like her,” she pointed to Roulette “like Cadmus, those who would seek to exploit us for their own gain? They’re the enemy, and we help them. We stand apart from one another; we allow our differences to keep us distant, from the Humans, and from each other, we’re all so concerned with our own private little slice of reality that we forget that there are those out there who don’t see us as ‘outcasts’, as ‘freaks’. People—Humans—who are ready and willing—eager, in fact—to call us ‘friends’. Or even ‘lovers’,” she smirked at Alex “or even…‘family’,” she shook her head “so, go ahead. Protect her, help her, allow her use and abuse you before she gets bored with you and finds some other new toys to play with”

One by one, the fighters slowly stepped away from Roulette, parting like the Red Sea before Moses, leaving her exposed

“It seems I underestimated you, General” she commented as Alex swiftly cuffed her

“You’re under arrest” she pronounced

“For what?” Roulette scoffed

“Let’s start with operating without a liquor license and work our way down from there,” Alex chuckled as she gave her a shove “move” she ordered. As the strike team moved in and began to gently lead the fighters away, Astra turned to M’gann, smirking

“So, you’re the other Green Martian, are you?” she remarked…

******

It took hours to clean up the mess Roulette had left behind. Most of the guests had quickly hid behind high-priced, fat-cat lawyers who would no doubt cite title and code and find various loopholes in the Alien Amnesty Act for their clients to wriggle through; Roulette herself had somehow managed to pull a few strings and gotten herself released from NCPD custody, much to Alex’s annoyance

“I should have planted something on her” she growled as she filed her report

I doubt it would have made much difference,” Astra shrugged “but still, look on the bright side, with testimony and statements from her stable of fighters, we now know what to look for. Somehow I doubt she’ll try again so soon” she predicted

“Hmm,” Alex grumbled “still, remember that not all of her fighters surrendered, at least two that we know of escaped. They probably went right back to her”

Astra shrugged, seemingly unconcerned as she turned to where Lena Luthor was sitting nearby, filling out and signing various NDAs with Lucy and Susan

“I hear that we have Ms. Luthor to thank for helping to find J’onn” she remarked

“Yep,” Alex agreed “she’s even offered to help us out,” she explained “all we got to do is ask,” she shook her head “never thought I’d be accepting help from a Luthor”

“Ah, but remember,” Astra smirked “she’s not strictly a Luthor, she’s adopted”

Alex smirked and nodded to where Kara and M’gann were chatting

“What do you think of her?” she wondered “M’gann?”

“I think she’s lost,” Astra explained “still unsure of her place in the world. Hopefully, today marks the beginning of a new era for her”

“Here’s hoping” Alex nodded…

******

“M’gann”

M’gann turned as Susan approached her

“J’onn,” she acknowledged “you, uh, you’ve got some very protective friends,” she noted “that’s good”

“Yes it is” J’onn agreed

“Look, about what happened at the club…” M’gann trailed off as Susan held up a hand

“That was in the past,” she declared “now, the trick is to look forward,” she smiled “I want you to know, that, if you ever need someone to talk to. I’ll be here”

M’gann smiled

“Thank you, J’onn”

“Of course,” Susan replied “walk you out?” she offered

“No thanks, I can find my way,” she smirked as she looked past Susan’s shoulder to where Lena Luthor still sat with Lucy “you know she likes you?” she asked “Ms. Luthor, I mean”

Susan raised a surprised eyebrow

“You mean she likes ‘Susan Vasquez’.” she corrected

“Maybe,” M’gann shrugged “maybe not. Introduce yourself—your _real_ self—and see what happens. You might be surprised”

Turning, she smirked as Susan frowned thoughtfully, while M’gann quietly exited the DEO and got into her car. Sighing, she shed her Human guise, her form expanding in size as her skin took on the familiar chalk-white skin tone of a White Martian…


	37. Survivor's Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THIRTY-SEVEN! End of AU of "Survivors", enjoy! :=)

******

Alex cautiously stepped into Non’s cell, not quite sure what brought her here. Non himself looked up as she entered, slowly standing to his full height as the doors shut behind her, but this time he didn’t seem so contemptuous as he assessed her, merely curious as to why she was here

“Agent Danvers” he acknowledged, his tone polite but indifferent as she circled the cell

“Non” Alex acknowledged in a identical tone as Non followed her movements

“Why are you here?” he finally asked

“I don’t know,” Alex admitted. She nodded to the book sitting on the bench “good book?” she asked

Non nodded

“Yes,” he answered. He frowned, studying her “ah,” he finally chuckled “Astra. What is it you Humans say? _‘Trouble in paradise’_?”

Alex smirked

“She’s not like how you remember, Non,” she warned “she’s not as…ruthless as she once was, not as willing to kill”

“If you believe that, then why are you here?” Non challenged

Alex paled and swallowed before answering softly

“I don’t know” she whispered

Non smirked and sat back down, spreading his arms in a strangely inviting gesture

“Tell me of ‘your’ Astra and I shall tell you of mine,” he began “then we shall see if she is as ‘changed’ as you think”

Nodding dimly, Alex took a breath and began…


	38. Parasite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THIRTY-EIGHT! First AU of "Changing". Now, since there have been at least two versions of Parasite in the comics, and since I already used 'Rudy Jones' in What we are, I'm using the Raymond Jensen version here, anyway enjoy! :=)

******

The alien bar was—as it usually was on a Friday evening—packed to the gills. Over by the pool table Lucy and Winn were hustling patrons out of their money using a combination of Winn’s skills at trigonometry and Lucy’s poker face, with Susan standing nearby merely watching, idly shaking her head at one particular player who didn’t seem to know when to quit, even though he’d already lost a few hundred to Lucy and Winn.

Sitting off in the corner, Alex and Astra seemed content to merely people watch as they sipped their drinks, with Astra occasionally pointing out a particular alien or group of aliens to Alex, speaking to her low, hushed tones, the two of them occasionally bursting into fits of muffled laughter.

In a nice corner booth, sat James and a rather annoyed Kara

“OK, that is like the…fourth person to buy you a drink” Kara exclaimed as she sank back in her seat. Sitting across from her, James shrugged and instead studied his drink suspiciously

“It’s…green,” he finally said. He looked up at M’gann, confused “what is it?”

“Thanagaran gin,” M’gann replied “complements of Giggles over there,” she pointed to a giggling blue alien woman, who waved shyly at James and, as her nickname suggested, burst into a fit of giggles “I wouldn’t recommend drinking that,” M’gann added as she set a beer down in front of James and slid the green drink over to Kara “it’ll literally melt your liver,” she warned “now you on the other,” she nodded to Kara “can enjoy, you’ll be fine”

Kara leaned down and examined the green drink

“You know what,” she began “I’m gonna try it” taking a breath she quickly tossed back the shot, coughing and gagging almost instantly as she flopped back and fanned herself

“Are you…OK?” James asked worriedly, to the best of his knowledge, Kara had never had alcohol before, which meant that the end result of this wouldn’t be pretty

“Yeah,” she panted out “whoo! That goes right to your head” she laughed

“Hey, Kara we got to go,” Alex announced as she came over “sorry, James”

“No, no, it’s all right” James dismissed easily

“Hey!” Kara suddenly grinned at Alex “you, you know, you, you look like my shister” she slurred

Alex blinked

“Wha…are, are you slurring your words?” she asked

“I am?” Kara asked, blinking slightly out of sync “no I’m not,” she declared “choshlite, ch, choc-o-light”

“Uh, I’m driving you” Alex declared as she hurried back to her table to gather her keys

“Well I’m not flying!” Kara laughed. She frowned and turned to James “am I?” she asked

James groaned…

******

“I’m p-fine!” Kara slurred as Alex half-led, half-dragged her into Command “I’m jusht a little dizzy” she exclaimed, yelping as she all but fell into the chair Alex maneuvered her into

“Is she…OK?” Winn asked, frowning

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Alex groaned, running a hand through her hair “what’s this about a distress signal?”

“Ten hours ago, our station in Norway picked up this satellite call from the Throul Climate Research Station near Svalbard” Astra explained. She nodded at Winn, who tapped a key, bringing up the grainy image of a clearly panicked woman in what looked cold wear gear

“ _Help us!_ ” she pleaded, frantically looking over her shoulder at a crash “ _oh god! Oh god! Oh god! It’s not_ human!!!” she screamed as something suddenly grabbed her and carried her off screaming as the image went blank

“Nobody’s heard from them since” Winn pronounced

“So, what do we do?” Alex wondered

“Agent Danvers, I want you to coordinate with Deputy Director Lane and our Norway office, see if they have any similar reports in their archives. Meanwhile, Supergirl and I will—” she broke off at a loud thump. Turning, she and every other agent in the room, frowned at the sight of Kara paused out face-first on the operations table

“On second thought, Agent Danvers you’re with me…”

******

“God, I hate snow” Alex grumbled as she pulled out her gun and checked the next doorway. The interior of the Throul Research Station appeared to have been largely left intact, so whoever or whatever had attacked had done so with surprising quickness

“No power” Astra noted as she tried the light switch

“Could be the weather,” Alex suggested “frozen generator”

“Alex”

Both women froze as they found the first body

“What the…” Alex shook her head as she tried to wrap her head around what she was seeing “have you ever seen anything like this?” she finally asked

“No” Astra answered

“It looks like he’s just been…drained,” Alex shook her head as she bent down and examined the nametag still attached to the corpse’s jacket “Dr. Rudy Jones” she read

“There should be thirteen more” Astra reasoned just as a loud clatter broke the air. Tensing, both women drew their guns and cautiously rounded the next corner, finding a man, clearly injured but alive

“Easy, easy, we’re here to help you,” Alex assured him as she crouched down next to him “what’s your name?”

“J, Jensen,” he stammered out, shivering violently “Dr. Raymond Jensen”

“He’s hypothermic” Alex reported

“Right,” Astra muttered as she easily scooped Dr. Jensen up “let’s get him back to Oslo…”


	39. Lone Survivor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THIRTY-NINE! Enjoy! :=)

******

**DEO field station  
Oslo, Norway**

The infirmary of the DEO’s Norway field station had the same sharp, antiseptic smell as the infirmary in their headquarters in National City

“Has he said anything about what happened?” Astra asked as she studied Dr. Jensen through the observation window as the staff examined him

“Says he doesn’t remember anything,” Alex shrugged “but I’m still confused as to how he survived,” she shook her head “everyone else in that station was dead, but he survived”

“Could be pure luck” Astra shrugged

“Maybe” Alex grumbled, clearly unconvinced

“Any idea of how the others were killed?”

“More weirdness,” Alex shook her head “according to preliminary autopsies, they all died from a combination of dehydration, starvation, blood loss, and bone decalcification. All at once. It’s like whatever attacked them literally just… _sucked_ the life out of them”

“And yet, Dr. Jensen alone survived,” Astra mused thoughtfully “regardless of how he survived, what’s his condition?”

“He’s healthy as a horse,” Alex shrugged, holding out a file folder to her “if anything, he’s in near-perfect health aside from a little frost bite”

“Hmm,” Astra frowned as she skimmed through the file “do you have any reason to keep him here?”

“His blood work’s normal,” Alex explained “no sign of any infectious virus or bacteria,” she shook his head “although there is one odd thing,” she began “he doesn’t seem all that shook up by the death of his collages”

“Could still be in shock” Astra suggested

Alex shook her head

“I think he just doesn’t care,” she muttered. She held out another folder “his record,” she explained “he’s a noted climatologist out of UCNC, he was one of the first to prove that global warming exists and has been at the forefront of the field ever since”

“But…?”

“He’s not what you call an ‘environmentalist’,” Alex explained “former collages almost always describe him as ‘dedicated’ and ‘cold, impersonal, and utterly focused on his research’. He’s never been married and is known for going through research teams like candy. Every time someone makes a mistake he either leaves the team or fires them”

Astra nodded

“So he’s less concerned with protecting the environment than he is with proving himself right,” Astra noted “unfortunately, not being a ‘people person’ doesn’t exactly make one a threat, just unlikable,” she snapped the folders shut “let him go,” she ordered “but have agents back home keep an eye on him. I don’t want to find a trail of bodies when we get home,” she smirked at Alex “now that’s out of the way, shall we see the sights that Oslo has to offer?”

Alex smirked

“Sure” she grinned…


	40. Feeding Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FORTY!! Enjoy! :=)

******

“ _Owww_ ”

Kara groaned as she held her splitting head. She felt like there was a guy with an axe happily hammering away at her skull like some kind of deranged lumberjack. If this was what a hangover felt like then it was no wonder Alex eventually quit drinking.

A loud _plop_ made her turn her head (bad idea! Bad idea!) to see a glass filled with something fizzing and bubbling

“It’s Alka-seltzer,” James explained “should help with the headache and the nausea”

Kara weakly nodded

“OK,” she mumbled, taking the glass and frowning at it “how do I…?”

“Just drink it all down” James advised

Shrugging, Kara downed the glass, gagging at the chalky, bitter taste

“Ugh! And this is supposed to be ‘good’ for me?!” she demanded as she set the glass down, grimacing. She hiccupped and then let out a very loud burp “oh!” she blushed and quickly covered her mouth in shock “sorry” she squeaked out

“Its fine,” James dismissed “feel better?” he asked

Kara frowned

“Kinda” she admitted…

******

“So, how was Oslo?” Susan asked as Alex swung at the punching bag, watching as it swung back and forth

“Cold,” she answered, pausing for breath “anything unusual about Dr. Jensen?”

“So far, no,” Susan reported “looks like he’s been holed up in his lab at UCNC for the moment,” she explained. She frowned at Alex “you feeling OK?” she asked

“Sure, why?” Alex replied

“Because whatever that punching bag did, I think you can forgive it” Susan countered, noting how hard Alex was hammering the bag

Alex blushed

“Just…feeling out of sorts today, that’s all,” she explained “probably jet-lag” she suggested

Susan frowned but shrugged, dismissing it for the moment…

******

**UC National City campus…**

Dr. Raymond Jensen examined the blood sample under the microscope, noting how fast the foreign cells multiplied, each one rapidly infecting his own cells

“Dr. Jensen?”

Jensen looked up from the microscope but didn’t bother to actually look at the other person in the room

“Mr. Bremen” he acknowledged the board member

“I was wondering what you’re still doing here, Doctor,” Bremen began “it’s late”

“I have work to do” Jensen answered dismissively

“Surely that can wait,” Bremen offered “after all you’ve endured…”

“What I ‘endured’, sir, was merely a roadblock, a speed bump in my work. Its passed, now I have to continue where I left off” Jensen stated

“You heartless bastard!” Bremen spat “thirteen people died! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?!” he demanded

Jensen finally looked up

“Yes,” he answered “it does. Namely it poses the question of where I’m going to find new research assistants to fill in”

Bremen shook his head in disgust

“I want you to take some time off,” he stated “rest, recover. Grieve”

“Grieving is for fools and priests,” Jensen dismissed “now, I have work to do”

“I wasn’t ‘asking’, Doctor” Bremen snarled out.

Jensen looked up again, assessing the other man with a strange, almost-hungry expression in his eyes

“No,” he stated as he slowly stood up “you weren’t…”

******

“We’ve got a problem” Winn announced

Alex and Astra both sighed

“Yes, I know it’s late,” Winn continued “but I think you should really see this,” he held out his tablet “found this when I was going through the security footage from the weather station” he explained.

On the screen, Dr. Jensen and his team were clearly in the middle of a necropsy on a dead wolf. As they watched, the wolf’s body suddenly jerked, something clearly moving _beneath_ the skin and fur as Dr. Jensen suddenly cried out in pain, staggering back to grab one of the other scientists, who doubled over, choking and gagging in clear pain as her entire form seemed to suddenly wither.

“Dr. Jensen wasn’t a survivor,” Alex realized “he’s the killer”

“Where is he now?” Astra demanded

“Still at UCNC” Winn reported

“Work on finding out what caused this,” she ordered as she turned to Alex “call your sister” she ordered…

******

Alex and Kara found Dr. Jensen in his lab standing over the body of what was clearly his latest victim

“Agent Danvers,” he nodded almost politely at Alex as she charged into the room, gun drawn “and Supergirl”

“Stay where you are and put your hands on top of your head” Alex ordered as he continued to simply stand there, assessing them

“You won’t stop me from completing my work” he stated

“Wrong” Kara snarled. She lunged, but Jensen easily caught her hand, a strange purplish glow coursing under the skin of Dr. Jensen’s hand as Kara grunted and gagged slightly

“Oh yes,” Jensen sighed “oh, yes, we like this” he breathed as Kara finally wrenched her arm free, staggering back to stumble to the floor.

Alex turned, readying a shot, only for Jensen to rip the gun from her hand and easily breaking it in half like it was play-doh. Holding the two pieces in each hand, he shrugged and then casually backhanded Alex through a window, calmly stepping out after her and disappearing into the night…

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
